The Future
by edwardelric108
Summary: A must read for all lovers of Gakuen Alice who are currently up to Chapter 163 and onwards. These are my views on what will occur next. Exposes numerous spoilers and surprises, especially regarding Natsume's health. Fans of the blood-eyed ebony cat will be attracted this piece of fiction! Lot of the predictions have also come true in the manga! Summary by me and Kira chan!
1. Death

A/N:This is my first fanfiction .So bear with me.

I donot own gakuen alice .

**Over the last few days I was really upset after reading about Natsume's death in chapter 163, this story is the result of that sadness. **

**So this story is dedicated to my favorite character from GA: Natsume sama (the ultimate tsundere) **

**PROLOGUE**,**: DEATH**

"Natsume! Natsume! …"She kept on repeating his name ,believing that he would listen to her and wake up.

But all her cries were replied with were rolling down her fatigued face.

_No, he can't die. He had promised me._

Mikan thought. She remembered the time when they all were in the time window and Natsume had promised her that.

"_Stu- -pid. I WON'T die.I told you right?That I am not going anywhere. Do you think I could just die and leave you behind. " _

_Yes,he had promised that to me._


	2. Along the river

A/N: This story takes place after chapter 163.

I donot own gakuen alice .

**Chapter 1: Along the river**

Natsume opened his eyes. No sign of the academy. Just endless stretch of sky was rather dark he looked up, but the sun,moon or stars refused to show up.

_Am I dead? What the heck is this place? ..._

He thought inevitably of Mikan.

_Mikan... Where is she .Will she be able to defeat the ESP?_

He felt guilty of abandoning her,of breaking his promise to her.

_"Stu- -pid. I WON'T die.I told you right?That I am not going anywhere. Do you think I could just die and leave you behind. " _Yes he had told her that,hadn't he?

_Please forgive me Mikan.I am sure Ruka will take good care of you,just as he had promised me. Just donot give smiling always. _He kept thinking those thought over and over in his head.

He heard the murmur of a river and turned around to see. A wide river was bickering down the sloped land. He looked as far as he could along endless river. He decided to walk along the river.  
He didnot stop thinking about her on the had completely changed his life with her miraculous smile that made him fall in love with smile which he thought of during every mission as it gave him strength to fight and gave him a reason to come back alive again. _If only,I could see her smiling face one last time ,before I... d i e d. _He felt a lump in his throat when he thought the last word.

He remembered all those moments he had with first meeting in the academy, it seemed quit stupid to him now that he actually stole her underwear!His memory reminded how cruel he had acted towards her at that time,especially in the northern woods during her test.

_Boy, must I have scared her._He thought.

Narumi teaming them together as partners,after that incident .(All that happened a year and half ago yet it seems like it was ages.) He loathed it that moment, now he would give away anything to see her smiling face again.

The kidnapping incident with Reo and Mikan risking her own life to save him, that's when her developed his crush on during the Alice Festival invaded his mind .How jealous he had been of Tsubasa getting close to Mikan, and how he had stopped Ruka and Mikan's kiss in the nick of 's slavery days, were happiest for him as he was with her all the heart had skipped a beat when he had seen Mikan in the fifteen year old body,during the infiltration of Z These were his favorite parts-the dance at the Christmas ball and their first he did not look like that,but he was actually just as nervous as Mikan at that time. _And by the way it was a lip kiss (not a tooth kiss). _That new year's night was the best he ever had, as he slept with he woke up he was more than pleased to see Mikan hugging him unconsciously.

He had been walking for almost three hours now,yet there was almost no change in the surrounding. Even river also seemed to enjoy looking at Natsume's nostalgic face and his changing facial expressions.

He had even let Aoi leave the academy without him, so that he could stay and protect had given Mikan his Alice stone,thus fulfilling the romantic Alice stone exchange mind raced to the sports festival,where he choosen Mikan during the borrowing race as-"The person I like the most"There was not a single day that he did not curse himself for being so cold to Mikan. _All because of that bitchy Luna. _ He had boldly confessed his love for her in front of the entire D A mind raced through the touching flashback scene and his promise to her,which he could not fulfill. Telepathically hearing her words- _Ï love you Natsume. I love you so much..."_ at their separation was the happiest moment for then thought of those chilling bitter cold Christmas nights he ran in the academy looking for his Rapunzel. The Christmas miracle they had witnessed made him forget all confessions,the kisses and their hands nonchalantly touched his blushed a little. He remembered the taste of her kisses,better than anything he had ever tasted .He loved the feel of her soft,pink lips on his .It made them one, it made him feel safe. He wished he had one last goodbye kiss.

Natsume looked up ahead and saw a silhouetted figure before him. _Is it God? _ He ran up ahead hurriedly, least it he came closer the figure assumed the shape of a woman.A woman he had known for a very long time. _No it wasn't was ..._

A/N Please send in reviews...


	3. reunion

**Chapter 2: Reunion**

"Okaa san!" Natsume yelled at the top of his voice. He could not believe his was three years old when his mother met with the "car accident"He barely had any memories of their time together.

Kaoru stood there ,smiling at her son .She stretched out her arms to embrace her ran into her arms. This was so completely against his stoic personality , guess Mikan had changed him after all.

"You have done well, my son. I am so proud of you. And I am sure so is your father."Kaoru continued "Natsume, I am sorry .It is because of me you have ended up like this. If only I had not passed on my life shortening type alice to you…. I thought th- …."

"None of this is your fault Okaasan."Natsue replied"I geuss I was just too naïve to believe that I could survive the attack.." _Oh! Mikan… I am so sorry…_ He still kept repeating it in his mind ."By the way what is this place?"

"Isn't it obvious .I thought a genius like you would have figured it out by now."Kaoru teased him"It's the Sanzu river.*We are at ."She finished.

"Is this all true or is it just going on in my head?"Natsume asked curiously.

"Of course it's going on in your head,at the same time why should it mean it's not real? It depends on you what you believe."Kaoru replied.

_Huh!I thought that was all just mythological stuff…_Natsume thought.

"No I am pretty sure it's not, my son."Kaoru replied to his thoughts.

"How did you read my mind?"

"You would be surprised by what I can by the way I read all your thoughts while you were strolling down the really are a great kisser just like me!"Kaoru loved to see the frown on his blushing face every time she teased him.

"Didn't I warn you not to do perverted things to my daughter."Two more figures emerged from behind the darkness.

"Sensei! Yuka! Did you guy come to meet your daughter's boyfriend ?"Kaoru said making the Yukiharas her next teasing targets.

"Natsume, thank you so much for taking such good care of our Mikan.I know that you are the best for her."Yuka thanked him."I am sure Sensei feels the same ?"

"Um,…huh yeah thanks a lot kid."Izumi vindicated his did not hate Natsume but he did not like his perverted ways of dealing with his had tried all his might from stopping their Christmas kisses, but that bastard Shiki had betrayed him!

"And there is no way that you should stop taking care of her now"Izumi finally said something polite to Natsume.

"What do you mean?"Natsume said tersely.

"It means that you get a second chance. This is NOT THE END for you my son. You have a long bright future ahead of is no way that you are time is not up."Kaoru felt a pang of joy on hearing his mother say that.

"This is the reason the three of are here send you have endangered yourself for others for quit a while now. It's time you live for back to your friends , to your family, to are all waiting for a happy long and fruitful life,Natsume."Yuka felt tears in her eyes when she finished her knew Yuka was thinking of put an arm around her.

"But how do I do that?"Natsume asked was glad he got a second was also glad the Yukiharas had accepted him.

"Simple,you just gotta cross the river"Izumi replied."Those are some treacherous must find your way to the other side within fifteen minutes,else you will be trapped in the eternal darkness of the you enter the river you will forget everything , you will feel the tremendous force trying to crush you,but keep keep thinking of your motive of going back to the other thinking of Mikan,that feeling wil guide you ?"

_How is that simple. _Natsume thought.

"You can do it, my son .I trust you, we all , Mikan won't wait forever you know."Kaoru assured him.

"Thank you,Okaasan , Yuka-san…. Izumi …sensei"Natsume said.

"Take care, after our Mikan"Yuka gave him one last piece of (including Izumi) knew that the last sentence goes without saying for Natsume.

"No perverted business with my daughter,else I will be dragging you back here myself."Izumi gave his last warning."Sensei! " "I was just kidding!Yuka."

With this Natsume gave his mother one last hug and dived into the river Sanzu.

* * *

A/N So how was it? Please send in reviews…..

*BTW Sanzu river is a mythical Japanese is believed to be located at .The dead cross this river to get to the after life. similar to river Satyx in greek myth.


	4. Resurrection

**A/N:Sorry for the wait. I was busy for past few days as my entrance exam results were out., which by the way I topped my district.(yay !)**

**Thank you all for the reviews... **

**Anyway here's chap 3.**

**Unfortunately I donot own Gakuen alice.**

* * *

**Recap :** Natsume is now inside the mysterious river Sanzu and has fifteen minutes to get out alive. He has lost his memory due to the cryptic powers of the river ,which can only be revived back if he manages to get out. If he stays there beyond 15 minutes then he will eternally be trapped in the void. Will he be able to get out?

* * *

**Chapter 3:Ressurection**

Natsume floated motionless in the pitch black surrounding. There was no water around him, he wasn't even wet , just empty null void surrounded him. No sign of any shore or bank. No doorway or portal to get out.

_Who Am I? Where am I?..._

"Hello! Anybody help me... somebody please respond... Help me..."Natsume's voice was shaking and it reflected his fear. He had no idea who he was or where he was. His memory had been wiped clean he could not recall even Mikan's name, the every key for him to escape outside. He did not even know whose name he should call out for help. He was a blank sheet of paper. All his memories about the past and the Sanzu river were gone. The emptiness and the void was tearing him apart from inside. Five minutes had passed since he had jumped into the river. The clock was ticking...But he remained ignorant to all that due to his amnesia.

He started frantically running, regardless of the direction. He was now finding it difficult to was panting heavily. Yet he didnot stop calling for help.

"HELP ME! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!" Each cry was shriller and sounded more desperate.

"_Natsume..."_He heard a voice .He started running towards it

_Am I antsume? Who is that?_ He thought.

"_Natsume, do not give up. Keep moving forward._" It was his father's voice .He was unable to figure it out. But he now knew that he was Natsume. And that he must get out of there.

"_Onisan. I am waiting for you..."_ Aoi called out to him this time.

_I have a sister__._ Natsume thought while running._ I must get to her and that other person whose voice I heard are waiting for me._

As time flowed, tremendous pressure tried to crush him down. It was as if an enigmatic and titanic force was preventing him to follow the voices. He struggled to walk . But the voices he heard gave him the strength to r walk.

"_Natsume-kun!"_

"_Natsume-nii!"_

"_Natsume!"_

"_Natsume... Sakura is waiting for you..__"_

One after other he heard the voices of all his friends , Permy ,Yo chan ,Hotaru ,Naru sensei , HSP and lastly Ruka. Though he could not recognise any of the speakers but he knew that they were important to him. The last voice had the most impact on him. In his mind a rough image of Ruka appeared.

_I know this boy very well. He is my best friend. And that other name he mentioned..._Though each step was painful he moved on. Thirteen minutes had passed.

"_Natsume. Come back to me. I love you. "_

_Mikan!_ He immediately recognised the voice . Her voice rekindled his spirits. Her voice helped him recollect his past memories . He now knew the motive of going back to the other side. Just like Izumi had told him ("_Just keep thinking of your motive of going back to the other side. Keep thinking of Mikan, that feeling will guide you out"_)

"I am coming Mikan. I am coming to you. I love you too"

He could now see a flickering light in front of him. For the first time he saw any light in there, yet it did not blind him. It gave him courage and strenght. He knew what that light was . It was Mikan, the midnight sun for him, the sun that saved him from the darkness of the Academy and the sun that will now save him from the abyss of death. He ran towards it. The flickering stopped and the light glowed steadily. As he came closer the source enlarged. It revealed a portal within itself. He kept hearing Mikan's voice from there and he kept thinking of her , his feeling for her. A hand reached out from middle of there. He grabbed it. It felt warm and cozy. Her hand always felt that way. As Natsume was being pulled out through the portal, the darkness was replaced by white background. He closed his eyes and entrusted himself to Mikan's hand to giude him out.


	5. Fears

**A/N:Writing the previous chapter was difficult. I had imagined the entire scene in my head, but presenting it in words was rather though, hope I did not disappoint the readers! **

**Reviews are most welcome! **

**This story was written between chapter 163 and 164 of manga, any similarity is purely coincidental. I do not own G A **

**Chapter 4: Fears**

Natsume slowly opened his eyes. He found himself still holding her hand. He grabbed it and hugged her . He clasped her tightly in his arms. And buried his face in her chest.

"Oh! Mikan I love you so much. I am so sorry I left you ... " His voice was shaky, as if he was speaking in between sobs. But there was no response from her. He unwrapped his arms, but his face was still buried, his hand moved to touch her face. Instead of soft fluffy cheeks, rough stubble greeted his hands.

_Wait a minute, that's not Mikan!_ Natsume moved back to look at the face for the first time.

"Otousan! Ewww... "Natsume said with aghast, while pushing him away. "What are you doing here?"

"Are you disappointed to see me? That's so rude, Natsume.."Mr. Hyuuga said puffing up his face._"See Karou-san this boy never gives me the least bit of respect."_ He muttered under his breath, he would often complain to his late wife about his son believing that she woud actually hear it.

"Of course I am disappointed .Who wouldn't be when you find an old man with unkempt hair and rough stubble hugging you instead of your cute girlfriend."Natsume said nonchalantly."Where is she any way?"

Natsume scanned the room. He knew it well. It was the Academy's infirmary. Fresh Sakura flowers were arranged in a vase on the table beside his bed. Some fruits were lying there as well. A half eaten box of fluff puffs was lying on the table, Mikan had probably left them there. A crumpled bed sheet was sitting on the couch, his dad must have been sleeping there. He found lots of instruments attached to his body, to measure his pulse, to give him IV drips. He remembered being stabbed so he pulled up his shirt to see the wound .But he found only layers and layers of roller gauze strapped on. He thought that Imai-san would have probably healed the wound. Aside from that he found innumerable bandages on his entire body. It was as if he was mummified!

"Mikan-chan is probably sleeping in her dormatory, as is everyone else because its still five thirty in the morning. Infact I myself was having a nice sleep , if you wouldnot have woken me up with all that screaming of yours." explained him."Mikan-chan never leaves you, she always sleeps over in here. Actually, she rarely sleeps, she keeps worrying about you. But yesterday Aoi and I insisted her that she should have some proper sleep in her bed and forced her to go."

Natsume smiled to himself after hearing his father's explanation."So, Aoi is here as well,huh? What about Ruka?"

"Of course she is. We rushed to the Academy, as soon as we received a call from Naru explaining what had happened. Ru-chan's mother insisted he should go home immediately, she was terrified when she heard about all the fight and how Ruka had participated in it. But Ru-chan told her that he would go home only after you woke up. He is also almost always here. "

"What _actually happened _? How did we defeat the ESP? And how did I come back? "

"Koizumi-san was the one that finished him off."

"What? Luna killed the ESP? Unbelievable!"

"There have been a lot of changes in the past week."

"A week? I was out for that long!" Natsume said in shock.

"The doctors expected that you would be in coma for a month. But looks like you are going to surprise everyone as always." told his son "If there is anyone you should thank for your life it's Mikan-chan. She stole the HSP's longevity alice and inserted it in your body."This time his voice was filled with sorrow. Natsume himself started feeling a little guilty.

"I... So is Mikan's uncle dead?" Natsume knew that the HSP was the only living blood relative Mikan had, and she had chosen to sacrifice that person for him !

"No. But he is weakened. He is bed ridden. Having his primary alice stolen has terribly weakened him. Plus his alice that prevented him from aging having now gone, he has aged all his sixty years all of a sudden and that has had a lot of damage to his body. Natsume , I know what you must be thinking but this is none of your fault. Both Mikan and her uncle came to the decision unanimously. Mikan was reluctant at first, but her uncle was determined to see the smile on her face again."

None of them spoke for some time after that conversation. Only the beeping from the instruments could be heard. Natsume was engrossed in deep musing of thoughts about everything that had happened there in his absence. More importantly he was rather afraid that how would he face HSP again. How would he console Mikan. He did want to come back but not at the cost of someone else's misery, especially someone who was dear to his Mikan. He feared that his relationship with Mikan might not be same as earlier due to this...

"You must be hungry, I'll go and get you some coffee or something. It's already six so the cafeteria must be open by now. "Mr. Hyuuga said finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah... Thanks..."

**Mikan's dormitory: (This scene takes place simultaneously to the previous scene at infirmary) **

"_Natsume! Natsume! …"She kept on repeating his name ,believing that he would listen to her and wake all her cries were replied with silence. Tears were rolling down her fatigued face._

'_No, he can't die. He had promised me.' Mikan thought__._

_She remembered the time when they all were in the time window and Natsume had promised her that."Stu- -pid. I WON'T die.I told you right?That I am not going anywhere. Do you think I could just die and leave you behind. " _

'_Yes,he had promised that to me. '_

_She inserted the healing alice stone in Natsume's wound which he had got due to the stabbing. Subaru sempai had given her the stone when she was healing Nobara in the Infirmary. The wound healed up but Natsume was stil lying there motionless. Mikan was so engrossed in her troubled thoughts that she failed to notice that the ESP was right in front of her and she was defenselessly standing there. _

_The ESP seized this moment and dashed forward to attack Mikan. Luna who was standing behind her noticed this. She pushed Mikan aside and blocked the attack. But she was too late the ESP managed to stab her instead._

"_Luna you betrayed me as well! Now die you bitch. I will make sure that all those who betrayed me will end up like that bastard over there."He said pointing at Natsume body. His eyes were burning with rage and anger. Before he could move away Luna grabbed him._

_She could no longer bear to hurt Mikan. Whenever she looked at Mikan she saw Yuka in her eyes and her dying apology instantaneously flooded her mind. At first she was confused by those words and her feelings towards the words. But when she saw Mikan help out Persona she finally came in terms with those feelings .When Mikan had told her that she hoped one day she would be able to like her own alice , Luna realized that the ESP was using her all along just as he had used Persona and his alice . Luna could not save Yuka, but now she was determined to save Mikan, that's why she had followed Mikan there._

"_No! I will not allow you to ruin Mikan's life as well" Luna yelled. She pulled the dagger out of her stomach and pierced it right through the ESP's heart."YOU ARE THE ONE WHO IS GOING TO DIE, YOU BASTARD"_

_He gave a deep and fierce scream before finally dying for good. Luna also collapsed right after that. Mikan was sitting there staring at their bodies in aghast. _

_Yusuke, the middle school student who had teleported her to Natsume, tried to console her. He told her that he would go and get help, saying that he teleported to the broadcasting room. Meanwhile Hotaru and gang used the time travel window to reach Mikan. Yusuke teleported there with Naru-sensei, Reo, Shiki and the HSP.(Apparently Shiki and HSP had reached the broadcasting room, right after Reo made his announcements.) Ruka, Tono and Tsubasa also reached the spot. The DA class with an unconscious Persona also arrived at the spot. Sakurano and Subaru arrive there in minutes. Everyone was shocked to see Natsume's dead body. Though the ESP was dead no one was happy. They had paid too big of a price for that. Hotaru was hugging Mikan and trying her best to console her, in her mind she was cursing Natsume for dying on Mikan. Subaru examined all three bodies lying there and declared them all dead. Ruka was staring at Natsume's body, tears were rolling down his eyes, it was as if someone had pierced his heart with a thousand knives ,he blamed himself for the situation as he had left Natsume to fend for himself._

"_Use my __longevity alice__. Mikan steal it completely and insert it in Natsume's body."the HSP said._

_Mikan wasn't able to comprehend it at first. But when she realized what it meant, she protested immediately._

"_No way, uncle I cannot do that. Even Natsume would not agree to it"Miakn managed to articulate a few words between her sobs."Besides uncle my alice is….."_

"_We are aware of the fact that your alice has reached it's end. Mikan you have the third shape of alice, the childhood shape."Shiki replied to everyone's surprise. No one had suspected that Mikan had the childhood shape alice!_

"_That's why Mikan this is our last chance to save Natsume. Use whatever remaining power you have of your alice and steal my alice .I have lived long enough to see the troubles caused here in the Academy, but I never raised my voice up till now. I can't let my brother's death go in vain. I could not save him, but today when I have the chance to save the happiness of his beloved daughter I am willing to sacrifice myself for that, so please Mikan hurry and do it!"_

_Mikan looked at Natsume's body, she took his hands in hers and kissed them softly. She had made her resolve._

_She walked upto her uncle inclining on Hotaru's shoulders. _

"_Thank you uncle, I forever be in your debt." She raised her arms and unleased her full powers and stole the __longevity alice. A huge alice stone was appeared in her hand. No one had seen this big of an alice stone before. As soon as the stone appeared the HSP collapsed, Shiki caught him before he hit the ground .Mikan made her way to Natsume's body and inserted the longevity alice stone within his body._

"_Natsume ,you have to wake up now...I love you..." That was the last thing she said before she too collapsed in Hotaru's arms..._

Mikan woke up with a start. She has had that same dream, or rather that nightmare every single day in the past week, one of the many reasons she could not sleep in past week. She looked at the clock it was still five thirty in the morning. Aoi was sleeping soundly beside her. She looked lovingly at her face. Mikan wondered how different those two siblings were.

_Natsume... When will he finally wake up or will he ever wake up?_

Mikan had often thought that possibility in her head. She feared that Natsume might never wake and always stay in that coma state forever. She was also not sure whether her alice had worked properly that time while inserting it in his body.

_What if I have messed up and that's the reason he does not wake up. Surely the doctors said that it might take up to a month, but Natsume never makes me wait..._

She kept on thinking of various such possibilities. She was scared of losing him, of having to live her life all alone. Then she thought of how Aoi, and Ruka would be affected if their plan failed. Her mind was filled with turmoil and she could not get a wink of sleep.

She decided to go and see how Natsume was doing. It was six a.m. by the put on her night gown, and wore her slippers and slowly moved out of the room without making any noise, least she woke Aoi up. The Academy was quite in the wee hours of morning. Mikan heard the chirping of birds, it cheered her up a little. She walked in to the infirmary and went straight for Natsume's room, by now she too had memorized the layout of the infirmary. She was puzzled when she saw in the hallway, she called him out. She thought that maybe someone had come to fill in for him. She now quickly made her way to his room.

She silently opened the door, and peeped inside. She was staring with her eyes wide open at what she saw in the room.

"Natsume!..." Mikan gave out a cry filled with surprise and joy.

**A/N: So, how was the chapter? Please send in reviews...**


	6. Another reunion

**A/N: Hey guys! I am really frustrated now, when is chapter 164 coming out !**

**Anyways here's my chapter 5**

**Please send in reviews **

**I do not own Gakuen Alice, although I wish I could.**

**Chapter 5: Another Reunion **

"Natsume! Natsume! ..." She kept on chanting his name.

"Are you just going to stand there or what?" Natsume said, trying to act cool.

"It really is you! " Mikan said after listening to his words.

She began briskly walking towards him but ended up running and leapt straight into his arms. She was on top of him, tried her best not to hurt him. Tears were flowing down her tired cheeks. He grabbed her really tight. So did she. They remained frozen like that for ages. Mikan felt Natsume's cheeks wet, so she broke free from the embrace and looked up to his face . She looked him in the eyes, for the first time she saw tears in those eyes. She had never seen Natsume crying, even when he was in worst of his pains. She caressed his face and rubbed off his tears with her thumb. "Hey leave that part to me ." She told him.

What she did next was also a first timer for her as well. She cupped his face in her warm hands and kissed him full on the lips. Natsume's eyes widened to Mikan's response, this was the first time Mikan had initiated a kiss! He closed his eyes and responded with enthusiasm. Natsume melted into the kiss. This kiss was nothing like the ones they had before, it was different. It was filled with desperation and longingness...

Mr. Hyuuga was back with two cups of coffee in his hands, he was unaware that Mikan was there as well. When he opened the door, his face went pink when he saw the two kissing so passionately._ Our boy is all grown up, Kaoru san._ Not meaning to eavesdrop on them, he quietly made his way out and sat outside on the bench.

Lack of oxygen broke them apart.

" Wow I was wrong, you really are a great kisser" Natsume teased her, referring to their first kiss at Christmas ball when he had called her "lousy at kissing".

She tried to punched him in a friendly manner, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her in for another kiss. They kissed...

Once.

Twice.

Thrice...

"Natsu-" But before she could finish, he sealed her mouth with another kiss. Natsume could not hold himself.

" I love you Mikan."

"Baka! I already know that. I love you too .Natsume I do not want us to be apart... ever. "

"Me too Mikan"

They hugged again.

"Mikan?" Natsume asked without breaking free from the embrace.

"Huh?"

"Thank you and I am really sorry about your uncl-"

"Don't, Natsume it was his decision." She cut him halfway, she broke free and faced him . "Past is now past. Let's start fresh now. Okay?"

" Yes definitely. Your eyes are so red, have you getting enough sleep?"

"No not really, I was so worried about you, I could barely sleep. If I even get some sleep I get nightmares. " Her eyes moistened again.

"I am sorry for worrying you"

" That you should be!" Mikan replied rubbing her eyes. " C-C-Ca-Can –I-sleep-with-y-y-yu-you here, just today." Mikan was all pink.

Natsume smiled at her, he loved to see her red face. He streched out his arm and welcomed her.

"Sure thing" Natsume told her.

Mikan laid her head softly on his arm, carefully not hurting him. She gave him another quick kiss, this time on his cheek. Then she snuggled in his arms. They both closed their eyes...

**A/N: Okay I agree that both Natsume and Mikan are little OOC. **

**Like all other authors I too love reviews**

**So please send in reviews.**


	7. Changes Part I

**A/N: Hey guys! I am dedicating this chapter to my friend and Kohai- - MyTwinkingStar , who has given few suggestions for this chapter.**

**Distan33, crybaby, Saito93, MyTwinkingStar, FloorCita: Thank you all for all the reviews. **

**Disclaimer: Of course I own Gakuen Alice (Oh! And I also own the Taj Mahal... Ha Ha Ha Ha... Kidding)**

**Okay enough joking around, here's chapter 6:-**

**Chapter 6: Changes-Part I**

It was twelve noon and Ruka walked into the infirmary, just like the normal routine he had been following the entire week. He saw sitting outside Natsume's room with Aoi and rushed there to find out if anything was wrong.

"Hyuuga-san is everything all right? Why are you and Aoi-chan sitting outside? Are the doctors examining Natsume ? Did something happen to him ?" Ruka looked even mored panicked than he sounded.

"Relax Ru-chan. You really worry too much. Everything is fine infact things are more than fine. Natsume woke up early this morn-"

Before he could finish his sentence Ruka bombarded him with another set of question. He didn't even correct about not calling him Ru-chan. He really disliked that nickname, it was childish and embarrassing. He had corrected both Mr. Hyuuga and Aoi the entire week whenever they called him by that name. Mikan was rolling with laughter when she first heard it (probably the only time she had laughed in the past week, Ruka was glad that his nickname was of some good at least) The "Watching over Ruka group " had found themselves a new technique to tease him. Hotaru also did not miss this chance to blackmail him, she had recorded the entire scene (when the Hyuugas called him _Ru chan_ and him losing his temper) in her LOLRecorder (apparently her latest invention: "Invention no#164")

***Hotaru pops up onto this screen wearing her classic graduation cap(Like in the anime) and a picture of the LOLRecorder is on the screen behind her. She points at it using her cane-***

" '_Invention no#164' LOLRecorder aka Laugh Out Loud Recorder .__Purpose:__ To record seriously humorous moments ,edit and upload immediately on You tube. Can also be used to blackmail the subject"_

***Hotaru grins evilly and vanishes into thin air like Houdini* **

"WHAAAAAAT ! Why didn't you say so earlier! When exactly did he wake up? Didn't the doctors say it would take upto a month, not that I am complaining or anything? Did you guys tell Mikan? Why are you all outside anyways, you guys you should be in there with him. And did the doc-"

"Calm down Ru-chan. We are outside because we want oniisan to have some privacy. Besides I think he is well tended to. Here look for yourself." Aoi said wisely ,while pointing at the window. Ruka peeped inside and his cheeks flushed red when he saw Natsume and Mikan sleeping together.

"Yeah! I know Oniisan likes to takes things fast." Aoi commented when she saw Ruka's face.

"It's nice to see Sakura finally sleeping peacefully, she didn't sleep much in the past entire week."

"Now that Ru-chan's here, let's go and grab some lunch." suggested it to Aoi.

"Okay! I am really starving. Ru-chan don't distrub them!" Aoi teased him one last time before heading for the cafeteria.

" DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Ruka yelled back.

He could not resist but go into the room. He stood beside the bed staring at his best friend and at the girl he loved just as much as his best friend did. He gave a deep sigh.

_What would have happen if Natsume never woke up? Sakura would have probably blamed herself for messing up her uncle's alice. What would I have done? I guess I too would not have been able to forgive myself, after all I should not have left him there alone with ESP. Then in distinct future, would Sakura finally move on? Would she have responded to my feelings? Would we..._

"NOOOO! " Ruka didnot realise that he was actually saying that out loud, real loud.

_What am I thinking!How could I even have such selfish thoughts . Natsume has proposed to her and she... _

_Natsume is back now, Sakura is his. They are perfect for each other._

"Is it too much to ask for a peaceful and quite atmosphere when I am sleeping ?"

"Natsume!" Ruka shrieked with joy, he really wanted to hug his best friend right now, but with Mikan still soundly sleeping on Natsume's shoulder , he couldn't. He continued with his high pitched voice, "Natsume I am so glad to see you today. I can't belie-"

"I am glad to see you too, Ruka. As much as I would love to shriek with you, I really don't want to wake Mikan up, so let's try to keep it down. She really must have been so tired she didn't even twitch inspite of your yelling."

"Right sorry, I was just too excited. " Ruka finally switched to whispering, " When did Sakura get here? Why didn't you guys call me!"

" Mikan got here in the morning around six. Blame Otousan for not informing you about me, I was in here sleeping the whole time."

"I am really glad you guys are together again. I wish you guys eternal happiness and that you alwa-"  
"Hey Ruka we aren't getting married you know! (At least not now!) Stop saying such cheesy stuff. I want to know everything that happened in the past week. Otousan was saying that there have been a lot of changes here"

"Well where should I start. So many things have been changed and so many new rules have been made. First thing that I want to tell you is.. Um... um... well how should I put it... You..."

"Just spit it out Ruka. Nothing can be more worse than dying."

"Well you asked for it, here it is- Both of you have lost your alices."

"Both?" Natsume assumed that Ruka was referring to Mikan, but he had to confirm it.

"You and Sakura."

"Mikan! But how? I mean I probably knew that I would lose my alice when I was battling ESP that day. But Mikan how?"

"Yeah we all were pretty surprised too. You see Sakura has the third shape of alice- the childhood shape. With time her alice was bound to die out. You are lucky that she still had enough strength left to steal and insert the longevity alice in you."

"Otousan told me about Mikan and HSP's role in resurrecting me. Ruka I feel responsible for causing so much pain to her. I mean he was her only living blood relative, now he's all weakened because of me. I think I will never be able to face him. As soon as I get out I want to see him first. You thank him and everything."

" Don't blame yourself Natsume. They choose to help you, because they both care about you."

" How come none of us ever notice that Mikan had childhood shape alice? I mean could HSP also not detect it earlier?"

" They said Mikan's is a rare alice, which makes it extremely unpredictable and difficult to study. Alices themselves are a big mystery to everyone. No one knows why or how do they exists in the first place. Natsume are you okay with losing your alice?"

"I don't know that, all I know is that my alice was the reason I was able to protect the ones I love and it was also the reason I met you and Mikan. Infact I never figured out whether it was a curse or a blessing to me. Truly alices are a real mystery. Tell me something about Persona, Ruka"

"He is in the infirmary as well. He's doing fine. Imai-san has healed him, Persona just needs rest he'll be discharged in a day or two. Natsume I know you detest him but he actually did help Mikan."

"I'll never forgive that bastard. I didnot want to entrust Mikan to him at that time as well but I had no choice, and that idiot Jin-Jin was supporting Persona. How can you guys trust him after all that he has done?"

"We are trusting him because of all that he has done. If it weren't for him, Sakura wouldnot have reached to you in time and you would not have be talking to me right now."

"Hn." Natsume gave his signature grunt " So are they going to kick us out of here, as we don't have alice?" He immediately changed the topic. He didnot want to argue with Ruka. Ruka was understood that Natsume wants to avoid discussing Persona so he too moved on to answer his question.

" Probably not. The academy has changed the rules a lot. The kids are actually at their homes right now. HSP, MSP and the new ESP decided that children should be given holidays to visit their parents at least twice a year- once during the summer holiday and once at Christmas. Also there will be no more DA missions, they actually abolished DA itself. So I guess that they'll bend a few rules for you guys as well."

" HSP is still continuing his post?"

" Of course. Don't mention that in front of him, he is unwilling to give that post up, he says old or not he is the only person fit for that job."

" So who is the new ESP?"

"Why don't you give a guess, Natsume."

**A/N: Seriously guys give it a guess, write a about it in the review**. **I would love to hear out your guesses!**

**Whew... this chapter is finally over. It's the longest chapter I have written so far, I practically stayed upto one at night to finish it. So please reward me by writing lots and lots of reviews.**

**All those silent readers out there, REVIEW!**

**Look for the new chapter and the new ESP! **


	8. Changes Part II

**A/N: Hey guys! I am very excited today as chapter 164 is out. It's worth reading.**

**Anyways as promised I present to you chapter 7 since now chapter 164 is out!**

**Disclaimer: I do (not) own Gakuen Alice.**

**This chapter is dedicated to Sunshine and Smiles, whose reviews have been very encouraging and inspiring. Thanks Sunshine-chan!**

**Chapter 7: Changes-Part II**

"Um... Jin-Jin?" Natsume gave his best guess.

"Well yes and no"

Natsume was puzzled at this remark of his friend. So he enquired, " What do you mean, Ruka?"

" Jinno-sensei was elected as the new ESP by the other two principals. I mean he was the logical choice, taking into account his experience and all his years serving loyally at the academy and he also put up a brave front during the battle. Everyone thought that it would be him. But he refused the post. He suggested tha-"

"WHAT ! Why would he refuse?" Natsume was loud enough to make Mikan frown in her sleep, if he were any more louder than she would've surely woken up.

"Jinno-sensei wanted that the younger lot should get a platform to show their skills, make up for past mistakes and he believes that the youth have more innovative ideas to run this academy better. So considering that he decided to pass on his post to ... a... um... Re"

"Ruka just spit it out! Why are you stammering so much?" Natsume was getting really impatient now and this impatience was reflected in his rising voice tone.

"Okay Natsume, you asked for it. The new ESP is Rei Serio."

"W-H-A-T! YOU ARE KIDDING ME!"

"No. Natsume please calm down, you'll wake Sakura up. It was a unanimous decision. Jinno, HSP ,MSP and even Shiki san agreed to it. They thought that Rei needs a second chance to prove himself. He spent most of his life being brainwashed into a monster, he truly repents it. He wants to atone for it. By helping make this academy a better home for the student and rendering his services is the best way to do it. That way he can make sure that there are no more Rei created by the hatred the students bear for the Academy. He was reluctant at first but then Narumi and Mikan encouraged him to do it. Natsume? Natsume? Are you listening to me?"

"WILL YOU PLEASE STOP CALLING HIM R-E-I. HE IS P-E-R-S-O-N-A", Natsume emphasized on every single letter in Rei's name. And he wasn't planning on lowering his voice either," HE IS NOTHING MORE THAN A BUTT KISSING BASTARD. NOW THAT ESP IS GONE HE KNOWS THAT THE ONLY WAY HE'LL BE ALLOWED TO STAY HERE IS BY PRETENDING THAT HE'S A GOODY TWO SHOES SO HE GOES ABOUT KISSING PEOPLE'S ARSE. YOU ALL MIGHT BE FOOLED BY HIS ACT BUT I AM NOT."

"Natsume, it's not like that . Please calm down. If he were merely acting why would he help Mikan out? Despite his help Mikan would not have been able to reach to you in time. I know he has wronged you. But- "

"HE HASN'T JUST WRONGED _ME_. HE HAS HURT MIKAN, HER FATHER, AOI AND EVEN _YOU._OR HAVE YOUFORGOTTEN THAT ?"

" Natsume people change. Or have _you_(of all people) forgotten that?"Ruka knew that Natsume was too pissed off, only one person could calm him down and reason out with him.

"WILL YOU KEEP IT DOWN, NATSUME?" Mikan woke up yelling at her boyfriend. " I was trying to get some sleep." She looked around and saw Ruka sitting beside their bed. Embarrassed she qiuckly got up from her awkward position and sat up straight.

"Oh! Ruka pyon! When did you get here?" She quickly asked trying to hide her embarrassment.

"About half an hour ago. It's nice to see that you are finally getting some sleep." Mikan flushed even more after listening that comment, Natsume was too pissed off to even feel embarrassed.

"You have been sleeping for over seven hours 's time you woke up, sleepy head."

"There you go giving me new names again. I'll sleep as much as I want. Besides it's actually _your_ fault I could sleep for the past _entire_ week. But looks like you don't care."

"What are you talking about ofcourse I care! I was just trying to-"

" Fox!"

"What did you call me?"

And the two went on arguing like old times. For them it was as if Ruka was not present there.

"That was for ruining my beauty sleep."

"Beauty sleep? Have you looked in the mirror lately? Ugly girl!"

"Lazy dog!"

"Polka dots! You it's time you started wearing shots! I could not help looking at it while you were all lovey dovey over me."

"Natsume you pervert!"

"What's that a fight between lovers!" was the one who finally ended their petty argument.

"Oniisan!" Aoi ran and hugged Natsume _really_ tight.

"Hey Aoi let go!You are choking me!"

" You know, you should not argue so much with Onee chan. She too good for you."

"Thank you for taking my side Aoi chan" Mikan said while giving Aoi a high five.

"Shut up Aoi! Don't indulge in elders matter." Natsume nonchalantly brushes off both the girls.

"Hyuuga san, have you visited Naru-sensei?" Mikan eagerly asked him.

"Yeah Aoi and I visited him in the morning, his wounds have almost healed. Thanks to Imai san. That poor kid has been working overtime to heal the injured. All students have gone home. His parents wanted the two siblings home but Hotaru san wanted to stay for Mikan and Subaru san wanted to heal people."

"That gay is still in the hospital?" Natsume asked tersely.

"Natsume! " Mikan gave him a warning glance.

"Yeah he is. Reo keeps him company." Ruka answered. " I am sure he'll be discharged by today."

"Reo?" Natsume asked another question.

"Well yeah he has been offered the post of a music teacher at the academy." Ruka answered again. He knew that this would simply add salt to Natsume's wounds.

"What's with Academy hiring all the _bad_ guys?" Natsume wasn't even surprised when Ruka told him that. He noticed that there really had been _too many changes_ in the week.

**A/N: Well I expected to cover everything in this chapter but theres still things left to be explained so the next chapter will be "Changes part III" .**

**Gotta a train to catch.**

**See you!**

**All the silent readers please read and review!**


	9. Changes part III

**A/N: Hi! There! Before I begin with the story there's something I want to share with you guys:**

**I know I must have shocked many of you by choosing Rei as the new ESP! But I feel we all should give him a chance (even Natsume!)**

**Also I didn't intend to break the chapter into three parts but somehow it ended up that way.I would also like to thank everyone for reviewing my story!**

**Okay enough with the chit chat here****'s the chapter 8:**

**Chapter 8: Changes Part III**

"Natsume, they weren't bad guys to begin with! Circumstances forced them to take the ugly path" Mikan calmly tried to explain him. Everyone present there, including her, knew that she was the only one who could talk him into accepting them as a part of the new Academy.

"Hn. Whatever" He replied in his usual cold tone.

"Oneechan you haven't eating anything, right?" Aoi said understanding the need to change the topic.

"Oh! Yeah, I am starving. What about you Natsume? Joining me? "

"That's a rather demanding way of asking your boyfriend out for a lunch. What's the magic word?" Natsume was in a complete mood of pulling her leg. He always did that to cool his mind off. Arguing and teasing Mikan had always been a stress buster for him!

"_Please_ Join me for lunch, my dear Natsume!" Aoi and Mr Hyuuga could not help chuckling. And Ruka looked as if he would faint, he had never seen _this_ side of Mikan!

"Ah! See that's much better" He said while planting a soft kiss on her cheek.

"Natsume!" Mikan flushed at his response as three pairs of eyes were staring at them.

"I'll go and get you guys some packed lunch in here." Ruka volunteered to do it. And he made his way out to the cafeteria.

" So when can I get out of this damn bed?" Natsume enquired. He had always hated being trapped in their all day long.

" I had informed the doctors that you are conscious so they had come to examine you, but as you were asleep they decided to come later. They'll tell you the discharge time. " His father replied to him.

" So what then? What am I supposed to do after getting discharged from here? The school's closed! "

"Baka! You are coming home with us, Oniisan. Aren't you anxious to go home? It's been four years since you left the village with Ru-chan! " Aoi said _literally_ jumping with joy. She always wanted her brother to come back with her to their home. She tried to convince him two years ago when she was expelled from the Academy but he wanted to stay there to protect Mikan, but now there was nothing to hold him back.

"What about you?" Natsume said looking at Mikan.

" I want to visit Ji chan" Mikan knew Natsume would want her to come with him . She herself wanted to go with him, she just didn't want to stay apart from him even one minute! But she wanted to see her Ji chan, just that badly. She was torn. But she finally made up her mind. Who knows if Ji chan could make it until the next holidays arrive! ( Considering how old he was )

Natsume gave a deep sigh, he too knew how eager Mikan was about meeting her Ji chan. He understood it. He might not show it, but inside he too was yearning to see Aoi and even his father.

A horse hoof came flying towards Natsume and the punch landed right on his face, adding to his previous injuries. Everybody's attention is shifted to Hotaru who was calmly sitted on her Flying Swan.

"That was for breaking your promise and dying on Mikan" She said that as calmly as ever.

"How did you get in here, Hotaru chan? " Aoi asked the obvious question. " It was even more surprising that we didn't notice her come in !" Her father added.

"Hotaru! You are hurting him" Mikan said helping Natsume out with getting up.

" I probably deserved that." Natsume replied to Hotaru.

"That you did." Came the reply from the inventor. " Anyways you should worry more about the bribe you are paying me instead of your injuries"

" Bribe? What for?" Natsume was puzzled.

"For these" Hotaru pulled out her LOLRecorder containing several photographs of the two love birds sleeping together from earlier that day. Mikan turned as pink as a rose." You know they'll fetch really handsome price, especially since the infamous black cat's love life is finally exposed! I wonder how much Tsubasa and other sempai's pay for these " Her eyes turned into Yen sings!

"I don't care what you do with those. Sell it to whomsoever so want. I have nothing to hide."

"WHATT! NO WAY! Hotaru you are my best friend! How could you do that! Besides since when did you pick Natsume as your Blackmail target? "

"Are you willing to pay? Then it'll be 10,000 rabbits"

"HOTARU!"

"Okay that's enough. Cut it out you two." Shiki san said as he entered in. Subaru Imai followed him in. Both of them greeted Mr Hyuuga and went to Natsume's bed.

" So the black cat is back! Huh!" Shiki told.

"Hm" Natsume's reaction was pretty much anticipated. Ruka too walked in bringing two lunch boxes with him. He handed them over.

Subaru placed his hand on Natsume's cheek and the bruise he had received from Hotaru's punch healed. He then examined Natsume's other injuries and told " You are healing faster than I expected. At this rate you'll be out of the hospital in another week or so."

" Thank you for all your help, Imai san" Mr Hyuuga bowed to him.

"You are most welcome."

"Shiki san Do you have any idea when Narumi sensei will be discharged? How is my Uncle doing?" Mikan asked him.

"Around three at noon . I visited him before coming here. He's fine. He has send Natsume his regards, he wanted to personally come here but he is in no condition to do so. "

"No I should be the one to visit him. I mean after all that he has done for me. I…."

"Natsume!" Mikan placed her hand on his when he said that.

"So are going to kick us out of here since we don't have our alices anymore?" Natsume asked the question he wanted to ask since a long time.

"Well, considering you guys saved the Academy and stuff. I think I can bend some rules for you two." Shiki replied.

"Really! Oh! Thank you Shiki san! Arigato Gosaimasu" Mikan gave him a deep bow.

"When school reopens the class B will have a graduation to the Middle school. In all this confusion and battle your exams were ignored , so Rei and I decided to promote all of you to your new class. Also evev the Middle Schoolers will move to High School. So do buy your necessary stuff."

"YESSSSS No Exams!" Mikan cried out with joy. "Wow I am going to Middle school now! I am going to be senpai!"

"Oh! Mikan I almost forgot I have another surprise for you." Shiki pulled out three stars from his pocket and placed them in her hands " Congratulations Mikan! Considering your courage and dedication to the Academy we ( meaning all the three principals ) have decided to give you these."

"Really? Wow! Yesssssss…." And Mikan was in her own dream world now.

"Let's not get carried away" Natsume reminded her.

"This is the _best_ day of my life!" Mikan said. It indeed was.

**I****'ll upload the next chapter only after the reviews cross the half century! ;-)**** So please help me achieve that goal!**

**(I found it on someone's profile and replaced the names with Natsume and Mikan)**

**Mikan: Do I ever cross your mind  
Natsume: No  
Mikan: Do you like me?  
Natsume: Not really  
Mikan: Do you want me?  
Natsume: No  
Mikan: Would you cry if I left?  
Natsume: No  
Mikan: Would you live for me?  
Natsume: No  
Mikan: Would you do anything for me?  
Natsume: No  
Mikan: Choose-me or ur life  
Natsume: my life**

**Mikan runs away in shock and pain and Natsume runs after her and says:**

**Natsume: The reason you never cross my mind is because you're always on my mind.  
Natsume: The reason why I don't like you is because I love you.  
Natsume: The reason I don't want you is because I need you.  
Natsume: The reason I wouldn't cry if you left is because I would die if you left.  
Natsume: The reason I wouldn't live for you is because I would die for you.  
Natsume: The reason why I'm not willing to do anything for you is because I would do everything for you.  
Natsume: The reason I chose my life is because you ARE my life  
Mikan: Natsume...**


	10. Confrontations

**A/N : I have been waiting to write this chapter since a very long time. **

**It's my personal favorite.**

**Hope you like it. **

**Chapter 9: Confrontations**

Natsume walked briskly through the garden outside the principal's quarters. This time he was determined to meet the owner of the house. He had made several trips across the garden that day but couldn't bring himself to walk into the house, every time he approached the threshold he would suddenly turn back and go back to his dorm. So by now he was well acquainted with the garden and could practically name every single plant growing there! He mustered up all his courage and raised his left hand to ring the door bell.

**D i n g... D o n g...**

A maid opened the door and greeted him. He replied to her greet " Konban wa *. I am Natsume Hyuuga. Can I meet principal Yukihara? " She nodded in reply and guided him upstairs. The house was big, it was more luxurious than Natsume's special star dorm! But Natsume hardly took notice of the furnishing, he was mused in the turmoil of thoughts in his head. He had planned to come there as soon as his father told him about his reason for being alive. Though he was discharged from the hospital just the previous day, instead of resting he kept on making futile trips to the mansion, in spite of meeting with frivolous rebukes . Now that he was _finally _in, he was thinking of how to best put the words he was meaning to personally convey to his benefactor all through the past week . He had imagined the whole scene numerous times in his head at the infirmary, it was his only means to kill time while sitting aimlessly there. Yet even at the final moment he was rethinking it all so that he gets all his feeling through.

The maid opened the door and made way for the guest. Natsume looked around ( for the first time) to find the person he was so anxious to meet. His eyes rushed to the king size bed where the principal was reclining. The time had done it's job on the old man lying there. The once most gorgeous man on campus was now reduced to a feeble old man. He was covered with innumerable wrinkles from top to toe. His light blonde hair had turned gray. His blue eyes were now hiding behind a pair of thick glass. A wheel chair was resting beside his bed, accompanied by a walking cane. He looked _at least_ eighty years old.

_Oh! Boy did I do that to him_ Natsume thought the most obvious thought.

"Ah! Natsume! What a pleasant surprise! Shiki told me that you had been discharged yesterday. But I thought you'd be resting, I didn't expect to see you here." Yukihara talked to him as calm as ever.

"I... uh... um...I..." After all that rehearsing he still found himself at loss of words!

_Oh! Shit! Damn it Natsume say something!_ He told himself that in his mind.

"First day with new lips?" Yukihara tried to joke. " Why don't you sit down." He added pointing at a chair lying near by. Natsume helped himself to the chair and sank in.

" Would you like some tea?" Yukihara asked him.

" No, thanks..." he said, " I just came by to... a... um..." He trailed off _again._

_Come get to the point, you idiot!_ He nagged himself _again._ Then all of a sudden he stood up and took a deep bow. "Arigato Gozaimasu!" He remained in that position thereby showing his gratitude.

"Wow! Natsume I didn't know you are _so polite_." Yukihara mocked him again. " You are most welcome. Please sit down."

" Principal I'll forever be in your debt. If there's any way I can repay you please let me kno-"

"I didn't do it _just_ for you. I did it for everyone. For Mikan. For your father. For Aoi... For my... brother." The old man continued, " I have spent many years in this Academy ,seen lot of horrible things and even overlooked them. I never raised my voice against it. But when Izumi came to the Academy, he taught me to value life, to _actually live,_ to love and to fight for the ones we love. I was helpless at that time. I let him..." He took a deep sigh then moved on "... die. I had decided then and there that no more people would have to suffer the same fate as my brother. No more victims will fall to the ESP's hands. I had made my resolve that I would do anything in my power to protect the students and the ones I love. That's why I-"

"-That's why you resurrected me." Natsume finished the sentence for him. " So it's not just about me, right?"

"Sorry, it was about something bigger than both you and me."

_Poor kid. He was so damn worried about the whole thing._ Yukihara thought it. Mikan had told him about Natsume's worries during her visits in the past week. He was well aware of Natsume's guilt and wanted to help the poor kid _finally_ ease up a little.

"I am glad." Natsume's heart was relieved when he heard that. He felt comfortable. A huge burden of guilt he had been carrying all through the week was lightened up.

"So when are you going home?"

"Otou san said that we would go home after three days. Mikan's going to her Jii chan's place tomorrow."

"Yeah she was really waiting to visit him since a long time."

"Is there anything I can do for you? I do owe you one after all"

"Come to think of it, there is a favor I have to ask of you." Yukihara straightened up with Natsume's help and reached the table beside his bed. He took out an old wooden box from it. And gave it to Natsume.

"This belonged to Izumi. He always kept all his precious stuff in there. I tried to peek into it a lot of times but he wouldn't let me. After he died I took it with me, but I never opened it. I wanted to give it to Yuka but I never got a chance to do that. Could you pass this on to Mikan for me? She'd be really happy if _you_ gave it to her."

" Sure"

"Natsume, I know this goes without saying , but I still got one more favor to ask of you. Will you promise to keep Mikan happy and safe forever? She really loves you a lot. Please take care of her for me."

"I promise that, sir"

"That does not mean you have the permission to do _that_ with her. No perverted business!"

"Wow! And I didn't know you are that _funny_." He smiled "I should get going."

"Okay thanks for the visit."

"Please take of yourself. Sayonara!"

"_Kazu-nii!"_ Yukihara remembered the sound of his beloved brother's voice. "Izumi, don't worry. Our Mikan is in safe hands now." He said that to himself and closed his eyes for a much needed sleep.

* * *

**Later that evening...**

The sun was about to set. The sky was painted in scarlet with the orange clouds texturing it. Mikan was standing in front of her parents' grave admiring the beauty of nature. She came there every single day and talked to her late parents.

"Oka san, Otou san... Natsume is finally discharged from the hospital. But he's really feeling bad about uncle Kazu. He keeps blaming himself for it. Today he has made more than a five trips already to uncle's place but he couldn't manage to go and meet him! I told him to get proper rest but he won't listen to me! I think he's really scared. I try to comfort him but he's still not convinced."

"Who are you calling scared?" Natsume walked up towards her. He put his right arm around her and stood there beside her. A bag pack was resting on his left arm.

"Natsume! Since have you been here?"

"Long enough"

"It rude to eavesdrop on people! How did you even find me?"

"I went to your dorm, but you weren't there. So I figured you'd be here. And I wasn't eavesdropping; you were loud enough to be heard down the hill."

" Why were you looking for me anyways?"

"I just wanted to meet you. If you don't want my company I'd be happy to leave." He raised his leg to move away from her.

"No, I didn't mean that. Stay with me." She grabbed his arm and pulled him back to her side.

"Actually I had come to give you this." Natsume took out the box from his bag pack and gave it to her, " Principal Yukihara gave it to me when I went to see him earlier this evening. It belonged to your father, your uncle wanted you to have it. Since you are leaving tomorrow I thought I should give it to you today itself."

"Thank you Natsume. It means a lot to me. I am glad you _finally_ met uncle" She hugged him. " About tomorrow... Ne... Natsume will you come with me to see Ji chan? I want you to meet him."

"You want to introduce me to grandfather?"

"No, I already told him about you in my letters. I want to introduce you as my ... b..bo..boy...boyfriend " She blushed unnecessarily.

"As your _Boyfriend!_ " Natsume burst out laughing.

"Natsume! You are making fun of me aren't you?"

"No, I am _actually_ glad. Thanks for cheering me up." He kissed her right after saying that. They heard the footsteps coming up the hill so they broke apart with their arms still around each other.

" Oh! Am I interrupting something?" Rei asked. The smiled wiped itself off Natsume's face as soon as he saw _Persona. _He wanted to punch him then and there.

"Rei sensei! How are you? Are you feeling better? " Mikan freed herself from Natsume's hands and went to greet Rei. This added fuel to the fire.

"Natsume, how are you? I heard you were discharged yesterday. How is Aoi chan?" Rei tried to initiate a futile conversation.

"Hn. Since when do you care, _Persona_." Natsume avoided looking into his eyes.

Mikan gave a warning glance to Natsume, she then said " Rei sensei when did you get discharged?"

"I got discharged this afternoon. I came here to visit Sensei and Yuka san." He gave Mikan a friendly hug.

_Okay, now he's dead meat!_ "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing? Get away from her or I'll burn you alive"

"Natsume! " Mikan glared at him, "Quiet being so paranoid! We have talked about this earlier! Besides you don't have your alice now , remember?.Apologize."

_Oh! Shit she's right. Dammit I had no idea I would miss it so much._

"Natsume I know we had our differences in past. But I want to have a fresh start now. Please let's just forget all the past wounds and move towards a brighter future. I know that you will never forgive me. If I were in your place I couldn't do it either. So I am not asking for forgiveness. I am just asking you to give me a second chance to prove myself. Please!" He was literally begging Natsume for another chance.

"What if I refuse?"

"Then I'll break up with you." Mikan had lost her cool now. She knew that this was the only way.

"WHAT? YOU WILL LEAVE ME BECAUSE OF THIS BASTARD? MIKAN HE IS A MURDERER. HE HAS KILLED YOUR FATHER!"

"As if that's different from what you are! You too have committed crimes during missions, right?" Mikan cursed herself for saying that. She knew Natsume hated when someone called him a criminal, worse a murderer. But that was the only way to make him realize his misconception. "Everyone has a dark past, they want to hide including you. Does that mean I don't love you? So no one should be judged from their sins, but from their desire to create a better tomorrow. Please Natsume, Rei sensei really wants you to second chance."

"Mikan!"Rei was moved by those words. So was Natsume. He could never forgive Persona, but he thought if he didn't even give him a second chance then he too didn't deserve one.

"I am s..s..sorry." He whispered.

"What's that I couldn't catch it?" Mikan said that on purpose.

"I said I am _sorry_ for abusing _persona_"

"It's okay Natsume." Rei held out his hand. Natsume held out his and both shaked hands.

"I only doing this cause Mikan threatened to leave me if I didn't"

_I knew this would work_. Mikan smiled on seeing the two finally getting along.

"Group hugs guys" Mikan said this and she squeezed the two in for a tight hug.

**A/N: Whew... This is by far one of the longest chapter I have written. **

**Oh! Can't believe it's 1 am! Bedtime.**

**Anyways as always please review...**

**Thanks.**

**P.S. I had this thought when I was traveling by train last weekend, I wanted to share it with you:**

**Similarities between Harry potter and Gakuen Alice**

**Hogwarts=Gakuen Alice**

**Magic=Alice**

**Snape=Narumi ( same sad shattered love story with the central character's mom)**

**Dumbledore=uncle Kazu**

**Hermione=Natsume**

**Ron=Mikan (Both are stupid and end up with the smartest one)**

**Fred and George= Tsubasa (the trougle makers)**

**Voldemort=ESP (duh! Evil)**

**Death eaters=Fuukitai**

**Ginny=Permy (Both have huge crushes on male protagonists)**

**Reader are welcome to add to the list in the review they write.**

**Thanks!**


	11. Let us all meet Ji chan!

**A/N: Hi there! Guys chap 165 is up and just like I predicted ( not bragging or anything)**

***SPOILER ALERT* **

**Luna does become the good girl and she has used her alice on ESP!**

**Anyways thank you all for reviewing!**

* * *

**Dear .Reading01 :**

**(Actually I wanted to PM you but looks like you have disabled that function, so here's what I want to tell you. Other readers can also read it if they want or skip it, your wish )**

**Thank you for your critical review. I appreciate your constructive criticism.**

**About Natsume, I find him extremely difficult to deal with ( wonder how Higuchi sensei does it!)He is the most complex person I've ever read about. I think if he can come up with cheesy lines like **

"**The woman I love as I see her sink in the same darkness I am in….**

**Do you still plan to have that kind of hair style in five years time?…. That hairstyle won't be suitable in five years time….. put your hair down… put it down,it looks better that way….**

**With this for eternity you are mine…"**

**He really is little flamboyant! I can't predict what he'll say in the situations I put him into in my story so I have tried my best to keep him in character. Sorry if he seems little OCC at times. If you have any suggestions regarding him do PM me!**

**Also you mentioned that "**, _**there are some things that should be pointed out here and there" **_**please shack off that laziness and do mention them so that I can improve my story!**

**Do review my further chap as well, I can improve my skills with your advice! **

**Hope you lead into loving my story! **

**Thanks again!**

**Okay here's chapter 10:**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Let us all meet Ji chan !**

"Onee san can you pass me the ketchup" Aoi said while she was picking up her sandwich from the box.

"Ne Imai san could you please pass me the ketchup ?" Mikan passed the bottle over to her." There you go Aoi chan"

"The trains moving pretty fast be careful not to spill the ketchup Aoi chan" Mr Hyuuga warned his overexcited daughter.

"I won't Otuosan! I am a big girl now. I am ten!" She protested, " Ru chan do you want some?"

"O...o...no... thanks..." Ruka said. His face was pale and if it were an anime a dark aura would be hovering over his head. He looked as if he would puke any minute. Seizing the moment Hotaru took out the LOLRecorder to capture Ruka's pathetic state.

"Nogi kun are you okay?" Narumi asked him.

"I think he's having motion sickness." Subaru exclaimed. Ruka nodded in agreement. He didn't dare open his mouth, fearing that something other than words would spill out!

"Poor Ruka pyon" Mikan said, " Here good thing I carry paper bag with me." She passed him the paper bag.

'_Sooooooooooooooo noisy...'._ Natsume was getting really irritated by all the commotion _'__I thought it was going to be just me and Mikan, why did the entire gang had to tag along? How did it end up like this..._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

**Flashback**

_The sun had already set a long time ago, in fact even the moon had claimed its throne by now. The three people were still standing at the graveyard hill. It seems that they, well, had a quiet long evening that day. From Yuki sensei's funny stories to Yuka's embarrassing moments with Izumi Rei went on and on about telling Mikan stories about her parents. Then they talked about Nobara. Mikan expressed relief that she was doing fine and was happy that she too had forgiven Rei, and that Rei had personally gone to drop her at her house where she would spent her remaining holidays. But not all three of them were enjoying this long conversation. Natsume was at his limits by now! _

'_How can someone talk so much!' He thought. He wanted to leave right after his humiliating apology ( 'humiliating' according to his perspective) but he did not want to leave Mikan chatting alone with that bastard. _

"_So Mikan chan you are going to your Ji chan's tomorrow?" Rei asked her._

"_Yeah. Natsume's coming along as well. You want to join us?" _

"_I think the two of us is just fine. You know what they say: two's a company and three's a crowd!" Natsume protested. He did not want anyone to interrupt the two of them on the long train journey._

"_Natsume!"_

"_That's okay Mikan chan. Thanks for the offer but I wouldn't be able to come anyways as I have lot of paper work to catch-up with. Besides I have some meetings with Shiki san and your uncle as well. Enjoy yourselves!" rei gave a modest reply which obviously pleased Natsume. _

"_Mikan let's go. It's almost dinner time." Natsume grabbed her hand and started walking without a word of goodbye._

"_Bye Rei sensei!" Mikan said while waving her hand high up in the air. Rei waved his in response. The walk from the graveyard to the diner was quiet long. But the clear sky filled with stars shinning like pearl and the full moon showering it's light on the road made the atmosphere serene and enjoyable. _

"_The moon's just like the one it was, on that Christmas eve you came to meet me in the Labyrinth mansion." Mikan exclaimed with joy while pointing at it._

"_Hmmm." Natsume agreed to it. The memories of that Christmas flood in his mind, he felt the urge to kiss her. So he stopped walking and took her face in his palm and slowly leaned in. Mikan closed her eyes in response. His lips were about to meet hers..._

"_Hi there!" A somewhat feminine voice greeted them. And just like a genie, Narumi appeared before them out of thin air._

"_Now what do you want?" Natsume frowned "Can't you see we sorta busy?" He was pissed off because another idiot had now come to ruin the perfect moment!_

"_Easy there, black cat. You really should have stayed in the hospital for longer time." Narumi turned to Mikan and continued "I heard you're visiting Ji chan tomorrow."_

"_Yes. I am really excited!" Mikan's voice expressed her excitment as well._

"_Have you published this in the newspaper or what?" Natsume exclaimed annoyed by the fact that almost everybody they bumped into that evening knew about that._

"_I remember visiting him once to deliver your letter. I think it was a year ago or was it two years, can't remember the time." Narumi said ignoring Natsume._

"_Why don't you come along?" Mikan invited him._

"_Well lets see... I don't have any work to do in particular...I'll be bored to death here with Misaki and Jin Jin... Soo... Okay!"_

'_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO' Natsume thought. " Didn't you hear what I said earlier? two's a company and three's a crowd" He was ignored again, this time by both of them._

"_Great! See you tomorrow at the main gate at seven in the morning. The train leaves at seven thirty. Shiki san will drop us at the station. Good night!"_

_**At the Lunch Hall...**_

_Mikan was bragging on and on about the following day's trip. She could barely hold her excitement. Natsume hoped she'd keep her big mouth shut, fearing more company._

"_Onee chan. Since onisan coming with you to your Ji chan. I'll get bored alone. Can I join you guys?" Aoi said after she heard that even Natsume was accompanying her._

"_Sure. Even Narumi sensei's coming. The more the better!" _

'_Oh! Boy!' Natsume thought._

"_If Aoi chan comes then I'll join too! You don't mind Mikan chan do you?" Mr Hyuuga asked._

"_I do" Natsume said bluntly._

"_No problem Hyuuga san. We'll need adult supervision!" Mikan exclaimed._

"_Last time I checked Narumi was an adult." Natsume gave another sharp reply." One is enough for supervi-"_

_Subaru interrupted Natsume. __"Mikan I__ heard you guys are going to the village tomorrow. Let's all go together, Hotaru and I are also going home."_

"_Hotaru! Let's go together" And Mikan rushed to give her a tight squeeze only to be hit by Baka gun._

"_Baka, have informed your grand pa about bringing so many guests?" Hotaru asked a sensible question._

"_No way! I am giving him a surprise!" Mikan winked at her while saying that._

"_that's not what I meant!" Hotaru commented._

_Natsume was sitting there all disappointed! His plans for a long romantic train ride was shattered before his eyes._

"_DOES ANYONE ELSE WANT TO JOIN US!" He shouted out loud._

"_Now that you have asked, Natsume .Can I come too?" Ruka asked him making a puppy face."That is if it isn't too much trouble for Sakura."_

"_I had to ask!" Natsume murmured._

"_Come along Ru chan. It'll be fun!" Aoi said and grabbed his hands. She spent a lot of time with Ruka throughout the entire week, when Natsume was still in the hospital. Mikan was busy shuttling between visiting her Uncle and Natsume so she got bored often and took to Ruka's company. He too seemed to enjoy it, by now he had stopped correcting her from saying 'Ru chan', he kinda liked to hear it in her sweet melodious voice. It was a whole new relationship blossoming!_

"_Yes it will be fun" Hotaru slyly said, while eyeing Ruka and Aoi (both holding hands.)_

"_Can't wait for tomorrow!" Mikan squealed in joy._

_**End of flashback**_

_._

_._

_._

_._

'_That's how '_

"Ne Natsume! Look we are here! We are here! Yipeee!" Mikan was literally jumping in joy. Natsume didn't realize that so much time had passed by while he was doing the torturous flashback. All _eight_ of them got down on the station. It was really a pretty small town, one could say that by just looking at the platform and the rural scenery around it.

"Ah! Nothing beats a nice rustic breeze" Narumi exclaimed. While everyone else was busy admiring the view the two best friends were ignoring that fact. Ruka was too busy puking out on the roadside, at his heart's content. Aoi patted him on his back." There there Ru chan. It'll be alright" And Natsume was busy feeling sorry for himself and his ruined date.

"This way everyone! Hurry up!" Mikan was in high spirits that day. She was going to meet her Ji chan after two years! She was practically skipping and hopping along the way.

"Wait up! Oneechan!" Aoi who was lagging as she was walking slowly with Ruka.

After a decent walk for ten minutes the gang ended up in front of a traditional Japanese style house. The garden was well maintained with a appreciable growth of Bonsais. There was a large courtyard.

"Hotaru remember we used to play here all the time!" Mikan said. She was really nostalgic by now. Even Hotaru was moved on seeing the courtyard and having her memories refreshed.

"Oji chan! Tadaima!" Mikan shouted on top of her lungs.

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**A/N: Don't ignore this note it's **_**important:**_

**I can't decide on what I should write in the next chapter. I am confused, over one thing. Whosoever reads this chapter please vote your opinion on my profile! I don't want to give any spoilers here ****,**** so please just vote your decision****. Include your opinions in reviews if you like or can even PM me. Please help me decide before Sunday!**

**By far it's the funniest chapter so far. ( I think)**

**Anyways as usual guys please REVIEW additionally this time please also VOTE ! I'll wait till Saturday for your votes then I'll start the new chap on Sunday. So please DONOT FORGET to VOTE !**

**Thank you for reading hope you enjoyed!**

**Pray for Natsume! ;-)**


	12. Meeting at last

**A/N: Thank you everyone for voting and reviewing! After a lot of thought I have decided to have Ji chan live. I know it's completely opposite to the poll results but I think there have already been lot of deaths so Ji chan lives!**

**Oh and before I forget, here's a warning:**

**Natsume and Mikan, You better not die. Not after all my obsession, fangirling, sobbing, Fanfictioning of you two! ( I take no credit for this found it on net)**

**Chapter 11: Meeting at last!**

A bokken (**A/N: A japanese wooden sword used in doujos)** comes flying lands right on top of Mikan's head. Everyone's attention shifts to the attacker. The old man wearing a yukata, is standing before them.

"Owwwwwwwwww Ji han that hurt!" Mikan exclaimed.

"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR RUNNING AWAY ON YOUR OWN. NOT TO MENTION YOU TOOK ALL MY LIFE SAVINGS WITH ALONG WITH YOU. " Nono Sakura yelled at his irresponsible grandchild. No one dared to intervene not even Natsume, the crowd was too awestruck by the fury of Ji chan.

"You know how worried I was for you... No letters...No contact... And after I saw that broadcast on TV about your school and the fight and everything... I ... thought I'll... never be able to see you again." Ji chan broke the silence after he had calmed himself down. A though old man as he was, after seeing his beloved granddaughter before his eyes safe and sound after two years he too could not hold back the tears of joy.

"Oh! Ji chan... I missed you so ..." Mikan broke of midway and ran into his arms and they both embraced each other for a long time. Two years of separation had left the old man too lonely and depressed. He had also made a trip or two to Gakuen Alice himself to check on Mikan, as none of his letter had a reply. He knew how careless and clumsy she was so he was worried whether she would be able to handle herself well in a completely alien environment. When Narumi had visited him, that was the only time he ever had heard from Mikan. And watching the broadcast on TV the other night had been a situation worse than a heart attack for that poor old man. And now that Mikan was standing in front of him, hugging him made him thank the heavens that the worse was over.

"Isn't this so adorable!" Aoi chan whispered. "This reminds me of the day Otousan came to pick me up at the Academy after the Hana hime incident. Onisan do you remember we had a nice family hug just like this one!"

"Hnn." He gave his usual grunt.

'_Why does she have to remember such embarrass__ing moments like that. It ruins my reputation.'_ Natsume thought to himself.

"Ji chan these are all my friends from the Academy." Mikan said while she pointed them out.

"Just like my Mikan, making so many new friends. Welcome everyone. Knowing my granddaughter she must have already told you a lot about me. Ah! Hotaru chan hello! Long time no see" Hotaru nodded her head in reply, " Nice to meet you too again."Ji chan invited everyone into the house." Why don't you all come on in."

" Sakura san. Nice to finally meet you. I am Subaru Imai, Hotaru's older brother. Thank you for your hospitality but I have to go to my house, my parents must be waiting for us." Subaru gave a quick bow after saying that.

"Oh! I thought you looked familiar. So your are the Imais' son. I remember your mother mentioning you quite often. She told me that you went off to the Academy at a very young age. You are coming home for the first time in all these years ,right? Your mother must be anxious to meet you guys. Do drop in now and then!" Ji chan knew exactly how his parents felt .

"Hotaru, do come in the evening we'll have lot of fun here. Like we used to when we were kids!" Mikan said.

"Baka! We aren't kids anymore. Grow up." Hotaru's reply was as cold as ever.

"That Hotaru hasn't changed, has she?" Ji chan exclaimed.

"You mean she was always this stoic and cold? Even as a child?" Ruka asked with curiosity.

"Oh! Yes she sure was." Mikan answered his question. "Let's go inside everyone."

"Please make yourselves at home." Ji chan told his guests.

"It's not too much trouble for you right Sakura san? I mean we all just came here without informing or anything." Mr Hyuuga asked.

"Oh1 no it's nice to have people around. Living all alone in the house is really boring. Besides it's no new thing. Mikan used to always bring her friends from school for sleepovers and stuff without even informing me or their parents. So don't worry...er...um..." Ji chan trailed off, waiting for Mr Hyuuga to introduce himself.

"Oh! It's Hyuuga." He prompted.

" Well Hyuuga san nice to have you here."

"Ji chan you already know Narumi senesi, right? " Mikan started to introduce everyone to her grandfather.

"Oh! Of course. Thank you so much for taking care of my granddaughter and thanks for all your help that time."

"Sure no problem Ojisan, I can call you that right?" Narumi was his usual joyful mood.

"Sure."

" These are my friends Ruka pyon, Aoi chan and Natsume. Aoi is Natsume's sister. And that is hyuuga san, their father."

"I read about you guys in the letter. Nice to meet you in person." Ji chan said.

"Actually I am her boyfr-" Natsume opened his mouth for the first time but Mikan placed her hand on it to prevent him from saying what she knew he wanted to say.

"A...hee...hee..hee.. Boy am I hungry! Lets go eat lunch!" Mikan changed the topic of conversation.

"Thanks for the food." Everyone except Natsume said that in unison and started eating. Aoi who was sitting beside Natsume, wanting to tease him a little, whispered to him "Somebody looks unhappy!"

"Shut up!" Natsume said. "It was you guys who ruined everything in first place." He looked at Mikan (sitting on other side of him ), she seemed to be merrily chatting and enjoying herself to the fullest. He was the only poor miserable suffering soul over there.

"Ji chan don't worry Aoi and I will do the dishes." Mikan said after finishing the lunch. Aoi and Mikan were busy in the kitchen, while the adults were sitting in the living room. Ruka took his much needed sleep. Natsume was busy hovering about the kitchen waiting to get a chance to talk to Mikan in private.

"I go and check on Ru chan." Aoi finally left the kitchen. Seizing the opportunity Natsume made his way in.

"I thought you wanted to introduce me to your ji chan as your _boyfriend_ !"

"Gyaaa! Natsume you scared me! I thought you were with Ruka." Mikan had almost dropped a dish on floor in surprise.

"So when exactly are you planning to tell your grand pa about us?"

"I...dunno...I stopped you that time because I...well I thought he might..."

"It was your idea in first place."

"Yeah I know that. And I will tell him, I just need some time."

"As a payment for all the boredom you have put me through, you will have to come with me to my house for the rest of the hols. Agreed?"

"We'll see that."

**That evening:**

"Aw! Hotaru didn't come!" Mikan had been waiting for Hotaru eagerly all through the evening, but she didn't show up.

"Oneechan maybe you should pay Hotaru chan a visit!" Aoi suggested.

"Good point." Mikan said, "Ji chan I am going to Hotaru's now. I'll be back by dinner time." She said with a voice loud enough for Ji chan to hear. Then she turned to Aoi and asked, "Do you want to come too?"

"I would love to."

"I am coming as well." Natsume butted his way in.

"No you can't." Both the girls replied.

"Why not?"

"Because you have to stay here and look after Ru chan. He's still not feeling that good." Aoi replied.

"Well since you're so worried about _Ru chan_, you should stay here and I can go with Mikan. Besides I am his best friend not his baby sitter."

" Okay then. It's settled. Aoi chan stays here with Ruka pyon and Natsume and I go to Hotaru's. You don't mind, do you Aoi chan?"

"Not at all. Now have fun you two."

'_Finally I can be alone with Mikan now!'_ Natsume was happy that his plan had succeeded.

**A/N: So how was it? I am personally disappointed with this chapter, it wasn't upto my expectations but I tried my best. Hope you guys liked it.**

**Please do let me know your reviews.**

**Thanks,**

**Ed.**


	13. Side story 1: The Wild Rose

**This is the edited version of the chap**_._** My friend Kira chan who is a great fan of persona-Nobara did all the work I take no credits. Please do read it. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I donot own GA, but I am the original author of this chap. Kira chan has written this edited version, all credit goes to her. Thanks a lot Kira chan!**

**Side story 1: The wild rose**

_The entire landscape was drowned in a rich and clear snow. A large castle, as white as a pearl, proudly remained dominating the panorama. A babyish female with splendid aqua hair lived in that palace. This miss respectfully earned the label, "Ice Princess." She possessed the ability to control, create, command, animate, and even destroy her gift of ice. Compassionate and caring described the princess, yet she unfortunately lived alone. She had but one ally: the raven-haired gardener, whom frequently presented her with a particular flower: the wild rose. There was another peculiarity about the flowers he gave her - they never withered. No matter how many years pass, they remained untouched by time. The Ice Princess cherished every single blossom her gardener presented her. She fancied that concept with an unbearable passion. The Ice Princess personally loved the gardener as well, although she had the knack of hiding secrets away. Over time, the gardener met an untimely death as he succumbed to pneumonia, leaving the lonesome lass in a beat down and grief-stricken state. The result of this event caused the feebile empress to sorrowfully cry a river for days to come. Once the Ice Princess came to her senses again, she came upon an idea. The Ice Princess used her magic powers to form an ice sculpture in her beloved gardener's likeness and breathe life into it. The gardener came forward and presented his Ice Princess with his usual wild rose. This time, it consisted of pure ice. She grasped it firmly and tucked it behind her ear. The wild rose caretaker and his Ice Princess lived happily ever after..."_

"A very touching story..." Nobara managed to whisper in emotion. This was her favorite fairytale ever since she was a mere child. Maybe it was because this "Ice Princess" of the book resembled her to quiet an extent, or perhaps it was Persona who gifted it to her on her sixth birthday.

"Wild roses resemble my name, Nobara... Perhaps this was why he acquired it for me." The conscious girl stated in curiosity.

The book was an acceptable company for her during her stay in the hospital. When she was in her juvenile state and didn't have the knowledge to read, Persona used to always read the story to her aloud. When she read it in the present, she could hear Persona's voice echoing through the words. Nobara savored that sound. This made her feel closer to him even though he wasn't physically with her at that moment.

Nobara desired to exit the hospital so that she could meet Persona once more. She had not confronted him since his promise for atonement. Luckily, she did hear news regarding him from the nurses and her visitors (which included her fellow Dangerous Ability affiliates) that he was now the latest Elementary School Principal of Alice Academy. They pronounced that he was slowly diverting to a better physical condition. Even though Persona was still under hospitalization, he remained stable. Obviously, the oh-so big-mouthed Mikan kept her up-to-date on Persona's health. She was grateful that Mikan, her only cherished female friend in the Academy, and Persona had overcame their distrust towards each other. Aside from this, today would be considered the finest day for her. She was to be discharged from the infirmary. The thought of seeing Persona caused her heart to warm.

Nobara closed the book in ecstaticy and placed it on the cornered table. This unexpected action coincided with a nurse entering her room. She awarded Nobara with a final check-up and green signaled her afterwards. "Well, Miss Ibaragi, you are all healthy and ready to go. Have a nice day, and do take care." The worker concluded her sentence along with a polite bow. The patient thanked her for handling her with care, took her belongings, and headed continuously towards her craved destination.

As Nobara was strolling down the hall way, she recognized Mikan to be there as well. Naturally, the middle school girl approached her in a quiet matter. There was a mere thought that had been bothering her lately, and she wanted to take the pig-tailed girl's point-of-view on the idea.

"Ah! Nobara-chan. You're discharged. It's good to see you!" Mikan exclaimed in a welcoming way.

"Hello, Mikan-chan. You're correct. I just got discharged, but I am going to see Persona first... You're visiting to see Natsume-kun, right?"

"Yep!"

"Um..." The wavy-haired student paused in akwardness, attempting to get her thoughts across. "Mikan-chan. You are my best friend, so there is something I needed your aid for. It's about Persona. I have been anxious to meet him all along because there is something that I intended to tell him. However, I...don't know how to explain it to him. I dismay of saying it directly to him."

"Just say what you want to tell him. Convey your true feelings to him. Don't be shy now, Nobara-chan. So, what is it that you exactly want to tell?"

"...I want to tell him that...I...I...li...like him."

"Ooh! That's so cute, Nobara-chan! Persona will be pleased to hear that. I like him, too!" Mikan was clearly misunderstanding the absolute definition of "like" here. At this point, Nobara really wondered how things worked out between her and Natsume.

"No, Mikan chan. You don't get it... I really like him. Like, as in like..."like"...! You know...ah...You like Natsume-kun, don't you...?" Comically, a blub immediately flashed above Mikan's head. She imprinted a fist within her right hand and struck it on her left palm in a gesture of having understood something big.

"Ah-hah! Now I get it! You love him, huh?" Nobara's pale cheeks slowly transformed to the color of red once Mikan mentioned the L-word. "In that case, it's all the more reason to flat out tell him how you feel. Trust me, Nobara-chan. It'll work." Mikan warm-heartedly grinned as she spoke from experience on this occasion. In the past, while she was escaping with Luca, she felt Natsume's sensitivity pour uncontrollably into her heart while using the Telepathy Alice Stone. She was aware that she loved him on that moment. She notified him that right then by using the Telepathy Alice. Coincidentally, she advised Nobara to do the same.

"I appreciate your assistance, Mikan-chan. Please do give my regards to Natsume-kun. Goodbye...!" Nobara waved willingly, while holding a confident smile on her face thanks to Mikan's optimism.

"Be sure you tell him how you feel, okay? I'll see you later. Bye-bye, Nobara-chan!"

After bidding Mikan a comfortable farewell, Nobara moved on to Persona's room. Without any further ado, she found herself knocking on his door: two times. When no acknowledgment was received, the girl moderately creaked the door open and tip-toed to silently enter. Her eyelashes lifted in an upward action to only catch the sight of an empty bed. Concern overcame the mind of the timid adolescent.

'Where could he possibly be?' After a few split seconds, she took a shot at a satisfactory guess. 'There is only one destination in which he turns to for peace and quiet. He must have grown to be dissatisfied with lying around here all day long... ' Nobara hurried over to their once, and still now, treasured memory of an area.

There displayed a noticeably alluring backyard filled with flowers in-bloom. As tall as the figure stood, the shady character from a distance was gazing at the flowers' elegance in approval. It was the same garden where he first came upon his partner, Nobara Ibaragi. Once his high school self had the ability to touch a daisy that did not wilt, he knew that the toddler he stumbled upon was one of a kind.

"I expected you would be here." Her hair danced in the midst of the blowing wind, while she took steps forward in an approaching manner.

"Nobara..." His eyes shifted behind him, in an utmost fearful way. By just her presence, he was unable to look her in the eyes after what he had put her through. Hesitantly, he regretfully asked, "...Why are you...here? Are you discharged?" The ebony clothed teacher was more than relieved to witness the chilly girl in front of his eyes, speaking and conversing with him. His voice was clearly reflecting upon his own emotions.

"You should be resting in your bed." Her words spoke soothingly. As a result, Persona could not hold his guilt in any longer.

"I felt suffocated in there, so I came out here to get fresh air. Furthermore, I am glad to see that you're safe. Nobara, I am sorry for everything. I know these words of mine will not heal the suffering I unfortunately bought you...but I want you to know that I...have not been able to forgive myself... All this while, I was cursing myself for hurting you. You, who has always been by my side, who loved me for who I was... You are the only person whose flowers never wither, at least never for me... You're kind. If it wasn't for Mikan and her Stealing Alice, then you'd... All because of me...I..."

"Rei...I had forgiven you long ago." The "gardener's" eyes enlarged as the mentioning of his long forbidden alias spread across her foggy breath. Nobara lengthened her dazzling response, "There is something that I want you to know as well. Like you mentioned, I do love you, Rei. Really... I really love you with all of my heart, Rei."

_'So, this is the aftermath of her affection towards me. This is why her flowers she brings to me never be abolished under my curse of an Alice. This is why she remains unharmed by my Alice when I touch her... Love. I never got to fully endure this feeling that was different than trust. It can even conquer dominating Alices like mine. Sensei, you were right about the power of love. I understand it now...'__  
_  
"Nobara." Persona's muse was delivered to his heart by what she told him. The candy-coated voice of the baby blue-haired repeating his actual name caused his heartbeat to accelerate as well. Nearing towards the girl, he anxiously hovered his sturdy and beat up hand over her tender cheek. The pleased girl, holding not one ounce of fear, imitated his action.

"It's warm...as always." Persona managed to burst out a slight smile from hearing her heartfelt voice filled with fondness. Eventually, Nobara adjusted the palm of her hand in a grasping fashion and established a wild rose portrayed in ice using her Alice. With this, she kindly held out the chilled masterpiece. Persona attained the solid peice of ice and firmly tucked it behind her ear. 'How do I start...? For me, a simple compliment should be a mission that is rather challenging to accomplish.'

"You..." A deep voice currently lowered in confidence began. Once his steady eyes were set on the image of the dedicated flower in front of him for some time, he managed to speak out, "You're beautiful, Nobara..."

Persona embraced the arctic temperature of her face in his palms, not after locking his eyes into hers. Now at peace, the gardener slowly leaned his head in until the surface of his moist lips finally met its mate. Lukewarm and luxurious, the kiss they shared together melted into sincerity. The two beloved selflessly refused to let go of one another and were trapped in an everlasting hug.

The gardener and his Ice Princess lived happily ever after...as the shades of dawn caress a blooming wild rose that may never wilt again.

**All the hard work is Kira's! thank her guys!**


	14. Side story 2:Ruka's first kiss

**A/N: So another side story. Sorry most of you would want me to go on with the original story but I am having a writers block about Ji chan and Natsume. Anyone with any suggestions/ideas about it please PM me!**

**I was reading the chap 134 "Feelings finally confessed" (again, for the 10 th time I think!) and I thought that Mikan does not give a proper reply to Ruka's feelings, so here's a Ruka-Mikan fluff and****.**** I was originally a Ruka-Mikan fan when I watched the anime ( I watched the anime first then read the manga ) as I found Natsume too perverted at first. But after reading the manga I fell for him! And now I am Natsume-Mikan fan.**

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**Side Story 2: Ruka's First Kiss**

The sun was gradually to making his journey to the other side of the world. As twilight was taking over the evening the two squirrels were busy quarreling over a small nut that they had found. The bigger one had an advantage and won the battle and hurriedly climbed his nest in the tree with his spoil. Ruka who happened to be sitting on the bench near the tree noticed their battle and being an animal lover he went over there to see for himself. He felt pity for the defeated little one.

"Here you go. Take this" He reached out for a nut from his pocket and held out his hand towards the squirrel. He always carried with him some nuts and grains to feed the animals he came across. Sometimes he would even smuggle bread from the cafeteria and feed it to the dogs. Almost every animal in the Academy knew Ruka. They didn't fear him. They adored him.

The squirrel hastily nibbled the nut, as if someone else would steal it away from him. "Easy there little one" Ruka told his little furry friend. He loved to watch how those tiny furry fingers in action.

"Wow it's so cute !" A very sweet and overexcited voice came from behind him and startled both the squirrel and Ruka.

"Oh! Sakura it's you! You scared me!"

"Sorry about that. The squirrel is so cuteeeeee! Can I touch it?"

"Yeah of course."

Mikan stretched her hand out to pat the squirrel on it's head. Mikan's sudden appearance had already scared it, so it ran away and hid behind the tree.

"Owwwww! It ran away! Ruka pyon!"

" You scared it with your loud voice. Be quite. Here watch how I do it." Saying this he took out another nut from his pocket and threw it near the tree. Knowing Ruka's scent well, the squirrel was drawn out and started nibbling again. The two pre teens went closer to it, and this time Mikan made sure she remained silent. "Okay, now take this and offer it to him" Ruka handed Mikan a nut. Mikan silently took it and held her hand out. The squirrel crept stealthily towards it. "I did it! Ruka pyon I did it!" Mikan said in a small excited whisper. Having satiated it's hunger the squirrel returned to it's burrow.

"Ruka pyon sure knows the animals!"

"How's Natsume doing? You went to visit him, right?"

"He's getting super bored in there! He keeps yelling at the nurses to let him out! The doctors have told him that he'll be discharged in a week. It's just been one day since that. He keeps worrying a lot about uncle though, keeps mumbling something to himself all the time as if he's practicing to talk to uncle later. I went to give him some of his mangas to shake his boredoom off and now he's so absorbed into it that he didn't even notice me leaving the room!"

"Ha ha ha that's Natsume " Ruka said while giggling. "But seriously he's lucky to be loved by you."

"Ruka pyon!" Mikan remembered something he had told her earlier. About five months ago. He _had_ _confessed _to her. Right! Confessed! Her friend Ruka pyon! Natsume's best friend! Never in a million years could she have guessed that he too was in love with her! She remembered it distinctly...

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"_...After this... I would not be able to see you again...I wish that even for just a moment time would stop right now...I can't believe that I can even think of something like this at such critical time..._

_Because it's the first time I have loved a girl so much..._

_And it's you, Sakura..." the ground behind her feet had slipped away when she heard what Ruka had said that. She had always thought of him as a brother, a friend. _

'_He's Natsume's best friend! Does Natsume know about Ruka's feeling for me? What should Itell ruka pyon! I am so confused' _

_Mikan's tiny brain was obviously overloaded. She had just come to realize her true feelings for Natsume and then all of a sudden she receives a confession from Ruka! Ruka saw the confusion in her eyes, so he said, "I had no intention of saying it..." Tears were flowing down his eyes as well." I'm so pathetic to cry like this..." Mikan didn't know what to do either so she simply pulled Ruka in for a hug without saying anything. She held him closely to her, cradled him like a baby. Slightly annoyed by that Ruka added, "You treat me child Sakura"_

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Mikan had always wanted to talk about _that_ incident to Ruka. She felt that she should properly confront him about it.

"Ne Ruka pyon... There's something I wanted to tell you since a long time...But I didn't know how to say it...I... just wanted to say that...I...I...IamsosorryRukaPyon!"

"What are you saying? You were too fast to understand."

"I...I am so sorry for...breaking your heart Ruka pyon...I wanted to tell you this since a while now...but I..."

"Sakura!..." Ruka was surprise by the sudden mention of the confession he gave her. "It's okay, Sakura! You don't have to worry about that! I am happy for you both. I love you guys. You guys are great together. I have told you that before, right? So don't worry much about it." Ruka gave her an encouraging smile.

Yes, she also remembered that he had mentioned that right after his confession...

"_I'll always support the two of you..."_

"_I'll pray that one day you and Natsume can see each other again..."_

'_Ruka pyon has always been so selfless and self sacrificing. I think Natsume is lucky to have him as a best friend.'_ Mikan thought to herself when she remembered those kind and selfless words of his.

"Ruka pyon I am sure one day you'll find someone who loves just as much as you love the two of us." that was the _best_ line Mikan could come up with at the spur of the moment.

"You know I ran into Nobara chan earlier this evening and she told me that she loves Rei sensei! can you believe it! I think everyone finds someone who loves them very much. One day even you will. I am sure of that!" But Ruka was barely paying attention to what Mikan was saying about Nobara, his mind was working something out! And he finally said that to her:

"Sakura...there's something that I wanted to ask you too... How does it feel when you...k..ki...kk...kkii...kiss someone you love" Ruka's face was red as tomatoes.

Mikan was shocked by his question too.

'_How does he know we've kissed! This is so embarrassing!Why did I have to bring this topic up?'_

"You don't _have_ to answer that. I mean I am so sorry to bring such a question out of the blue. I know it's embarrassing... but I was just curious... When Koko read out Natsume's mind on new year's eve, he told everyone out that Natsume has kissed you a lot and that he keeps thinking about it everyday...So I thought it must be a wonderful feeling (since Natsume too can't seem to get over it)...I just wanted to know your opinion..."

'_Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Now everyone knows about it! I am going to KILL Koko! What else has he read in Natsume's mind!_

There was a long silent pause after that, and Mikan broke it," It's magical. The best thing ever. You feel that you and the person you love have become one!" Ruka himself could not believe that Mikan could come up with such an explanation.

"You are the first girl I feel in love with. You'll always hold a special place in my heart, no matter what. So I want you to be the one I share my first kiss with..."

'_Ruka, you idiot what the hell are you saying! Natsume will kill you if he finds out.'_ Ruka's conscious was biting him. But he wanted to do something once for himself. Just this once.

Mikan's condition was worse. Ruka was throwing one embarrassment over other. He had totally put her in a fix. She had absolutely no idea what to do.

"Sorry Sakura. I shouldn't have said that. Sorry to confuse you like that"

"_I'll always support the two of you..."_

"_I'll pray that one day you and Natsume can see each other again..."_

'_Ruka pyon has always been there for me. For Natsume. For both of us. He has sacrificed his feeling his love for us to be happy...I could do that much for him...Just a small friendly kiss...nothing more...'_ After thinking over it she finally came to that decision. She stood there and closed her eyes, inviting Ruka in for the kiss.

Ruka was trembling in excitement as well as nervousness. He hadn't thought in a million years that she would've accepted that. He walked upto her, put one arm around her waist to pull her closer and caressed her cheek using the other. How he longed to do that! He leaned in towards her face. Gradually the distance was decreasing. Their lips were now few millimeters away from hers. He could feel her heavy and anxious breathing on his face. Mikan was never touched _that _way by anyone besides Natsume so she was getting uncomfortable which was reflected in her breathing. Ruka remembered the last time he was this close to Mikan: During the play "The Sleeping Snow White in the woods" at the alice festival. He was almost about to kiss Mikan, if it weren't for the apple that hit her head. Ruka knew it was Natsume who threw that apple for sure. But this time he was determined to kiss her, nothing would interrupt them.

'_Sorry Natsume...I guess you owe me at least this much'_ Ruka's mind was thinking this over and over as their lips came closer and closer... until they finally met...

Nothing else mattered to him at that moment. To hell with the Academy. To hell with the world. To hell with Natsume! He was completely lost in the kiss. Mikan was right it is magical. Especially if you do it with someone you love so much.

Mikan was the one who backed off after mere three seconds. Ruka opened his eyes to look at Mikan who was just as red as he was. She didn't face him but kept looking at her feet.

"Thank you...And sorry...Mikan"

He used her name! Mikan looked up. He used her name! She had enough for that day and walked of without a word. (in case anyone's wondering where she stormed off to: she went to Natsume and she probably kissed him a lot to get rid of her guilt)

'_I think I can finally move on now._' Ruka thought.

"Hey Ru chan" Aoi came running to him and interrupted his little mind talk. She came from the direction where the infirmary was," I was looking all over for you. Those two love birds are making me crazy with all the smooching so I thought that the two of us could play for a while"

_Ruka pyon I am sure one day you'll find someone who loves just as much as you love the two of us"_

Mikan was right. That someone was closer than Ruka thought...

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**A/N : Okay Natsume Mikan fans please don't throw rotten tomatoes at me, I am one of you! I just thought that Ruka needed a reward for all his sacrifice and hard work.**

**Don't worry Mikan will not fall for him. **

**As always REVIEW!**

**Thanks!**


	15. Nostalgia

**A/N: Okay firstly my apologies to all the readers who were anxiously waiting for this chapter sorry to make you wait in anxiety for so long, hope you guys enjoyed the two side stories in the meantime. After getting some inspiration I am now back on the main story line.**

**I dedicate this chapter to Sonic-Keyblade 007, who has been the inspiration for this chapter. Thanks a lot! **

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Gakuen Alice**

**So here it goes:**

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**Recap from chap 11 ( since it's been a long time let's refresh our memories)**

" Okay then. It's settled. Aoi chan stays here with Ruka pyon and Natsume and I go to Hotaru's. You don't mind, do you Aoi chan?"

"Not at all. Now have fun you two."

'_Finally I can be alone with Mikan now_!' Natsume was happy that his plan had succeeded

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**Chapter 12: Nostalgia**

As soon as the two of them were out of sight of the others back home, Natsume didn't wait a moment longer. He hadn't kissed Mikan once that day! It was too much agonizing for him. So now that the two of them were finally alone, he smartly seized the opportunity. He caught her in surprise, wrapped her into his arms and held her chin upwards using his hand. He looked into her eyes for a brief moment and then pressed his lips onto hers. It was a pretty rough kiss. After he was satiated, he decided to let her go.

"Natsume! What are you doing? What if someone saw us? "

"That was your punishment for ignoring me all day day. You know how bored I got on the train? If it weren't for my mangas I would have jumped off from there!"

"Sorry! I didn't mean to ignore you or anything it's just that I met Ji chan after a long time so I wanted to spend a lot of time with him, you know there was so much to tell, so much to listen." Natsume didn't reply back, he knew deep down what one feels to meet their family after such a long time. He knew how Mikan felt, he had felt that before too when his father came to pick Aoi up from the Academy.

The two lovebirds continued to walk along. They seemed to enjoy the lovely village scenery, the evening color added charm to the rustic ambience. Every now and then Mikan would come up with lines like "Oh! I remember this place."..."This is where we have our festival"..."That's Ji chan favorite spot"... Nostalgia tingled into the cold air making the atmosphere little warmer. Natsume loved to see the changing expressions on Mikan's face.

" Those height marks were really cut you know." Natsume said. Mikan blushed pink when she heard that, "You were sneaking into my room! That's...that's bad manners. And since when did start using words like 'cute' you hate such _girly_ words."

"What I can't visit my girlfriend's old bedro- " But he was interrupted halfway by a squeaking Mikan.

"Owww! That's my old school! Look Natsume!" Mikan was shrieking on top of her voice, "Common let's check it out!" She grabbed his hand and started running towards the elementary school. Natsume didn't protest he wanted to know everything about _his_ Mikan, all about her childhood. They rushed through the corridors and passed the shoes lockers.

"I remember clearly how our sensei used to scold us for running in this hallways and dirtying the corridors with mud from our shoes...owww and that's the spot!" She said while excitedly pointing at a spot near the lockers " when I was in second grade, I slipped and fell down right there! I remember it was raining a lot that day so I slipped. Boy! I cried a lot that day." Natsume was just praying that some idiot hadn't seen her polka dot underwear that time.

"Oh! And here we used to have our lunch together, right under that tree! Me, Hotaru, Aya chan, Hiro kun and Misaki chan." Natsume had no idea who those three strangers Mikan mentioned were, nevertheless he kept listening to her stories.

'_At least it's_ _better than visiting Imai's house. Who knows how she'll blackmail you when you reach there. Hope Mikan gets carried away in this excitement and forgets_ _about visiting Imai!"_ Natsume thought this while Mikan was still on and on about her memories.

"...that's where we used to play soccer...This was where Ji chan and I protested when they were going to shut the school down."

"What? They were going to close down this school?"

"Oh! So you _were_ listening! I thought you were pretending to listen to me." Mikan said in relief, "Yeah this is a small town there aren't many students here. So owing to rising debts and low financial support, the school authorities planned to shut it down. Thanks to Hotaru it was saved. The money government offered Hotaru to get enrolled in the Academy was used to fund the school. She didn't tell this to anyone, not even me, I overheard it when her mother was talking to our school principal. That's why she chose to attend the Academy to help this school. Hotaru is actually a very soft hearted person, you know."

"I ought to thank Imai for that. If she hadn't come to the Academy, you wouldn't have followed her there and I wouldn't have met you then." Natsume said while smiling.

" You're right for that matter." Mikan said after much thought over what her boyfriend had pointed out," Enough sightseeing. Let's hurry to Hotaru's "

" You're really lucky you know Mikan. You have so many good memories of your childhood. So many friends to recall. Even if I want to, I can't recollect anything from my childhood. I have no memories to feel nostalgic about. We were always on constant move to evade the Academy. We barely stayed over six months in any village we went to. I think I might have attended over a dozen elementary schools, I don't even remember their names." He paused for a while.

"Natsume!" Mikan took his hands in hers and tried to comfort him.

" Aoi's like you, so she easily made new friends. I was always lonely, until I met Ruka. Everything was a big mess in my childhood and to top it all I used to get sick every once in a month. I hated it. I hated that life. I...I... sort of envy you for that matter. You have so many happy memories."

"What about all those happy moments we'd all had in the Academy? How can you forget them Natsume? The Alice festival, the sport festival, the Christmas balls ( I bet you'd never forget the two of them! Neither will I!). Remember what I said to you when you woke up from coma in the hospital 'Past is now past. Let's start fresh now. Okay?' " Mikan hugged him tightly and went on to add further, " Let's create lots of happy memories from now on for days to came. So that in future we'll have lots and lots of stories to tell our children about our teenage life! So many that they'll get tired of listening to our stories."

"Mikan! Since when did you start getting so mature? " Natsume said giving away a huge grin. He was right our innocent little piggy tails polka dots girl was maturing. Both mentally and physically. Natsume could not help but notice the tiny lumps growing on her chest. ( I think he was more happy about it than her)

"See you should smile more often, it adds color to your face. I _am_ your girlfriend after all. The infamous blackcat. So I have to get mature!" Mikan said whiling grinning herself. " common let's hurry and go to Hotaru's "

"Only after you kiss me."

"You're being really greedy Natsume."

"Try me polka!" Natsume told her. He slammed his hands on the wall behind them and caged her. And then he bent in to give her a kiss. This one was a lot better than the earlier one. Mikan liked it too. She started kissing him back. Seeing that she was getting in the mood as well, Natsume decided to take things a little further. He stuck his tongue out, without letting go off her lips and started licking her lips. He was asking for permission to go in. Mikan was totally going all frenzy, she was loosened up. She gave away. His tongue entered her mouth and started exploring it...

It was several minutes after which the two broke apart thanks to oxygen. Mikan had red color spread all over her face. Natsume smiled at her.

"Now we'll add this spot in our memories as well. Let's call it 'That's where we had our first french kiss' You were the one who came up with the idea of _creating_ memories. " Natsume teased her.

"I didn't mean it in a perverted way! Natsume you are a big pervert."

"Hey how else do you expect to create those children of yours whom you're going to tell all these stories to." Natsume continued to tease her. Noticing that she was way too embarrassed he simply gave her a warm hug and said, " I love you, Mikan"

"I already know that baka! Me too, Natsume I love you too."

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**A/N: I hope I didn't let the readers who were anxiously awaiting it down! Next chap will be filled with a little action, I am getting tired of the mushiness.**

**As always do review!**

**Thanks!**

**Bye!**


	16. Old Friends,New Foes

**A/N: Hi there! Time for a little action. So here's chapter 13. Here's a few lines I thought I must add:**

'**N****othing's ever perfect, haven't you realized that yet? Earth turns on a tilted axis, just doing the best it can.****' -Van Hoenheim (Fullmetal Alchemist, episode 51, 2003 anime)**

'**Nothing's perfect, the world's not perfect, but it's there for us, trying the best it can. That's what makes it so damn beautiful.****' -Roy Mustang (Fullmetal Alchemist, episode 51, 2003 anime) **

**The same goes for me! Sorry for any typos, grammatical errors.**

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**By the way .Reading01, if you're out there please read the chapter 'The wild Rose' it's edited by my friend Kira and she really wanted your opinion on it. And this time please don't be as harsh as you were to me, she's really sensitive and soft. Not as though as me. And by the way the summary is changed. Hope you're happy!**

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**Oh! Before I forget, I want to dedicate this story to Rock Lee96, one of my best friends from mangafox, who took the pains to read and **_**review**_** this story even though he doesn't have a clue about what Gakuen Alice is! He went as far as to create an account here! Thanks a lot Lee! You're a true friend.**

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**Chapter 13: Old friends, New Foes**

The pair walked out of the school campus hand in hand. Walking slowly and enjoying the village beauty they made their way towards the inventor's house. Mikan was still occasional having some flashbacks. And now Natsume was getting really irritated by that, but he kept quite to avoid arguing.

They passed by a huge ground covered in green sheet of grass. A few benches were also there for the elders to sit. But apparently they were empty. The old folks did not go out much in the cold evening of January. But the younger lot sure were having their lot of fun. The trees in that park were all bald without the leaves. Few little kids were out there jumping on the heap of dry leaves and laughing at the weird sounds that were produced. Mikan let go off Natsume's hand and jumped onto one of those heaps as well. She giggled at the cracking sound that followed.

"I always love to do that. Common Natsume give it a try!" She stretched out her hand inviting him over there.

"Hn. Like I'd do something as childish as this! Common stop making a fool of you-."

"Mikan chan!" A girl with light honey-blonde shoulder length hair and a strand of pink highlight came running towards her. She was almost as tall as Mikan. She was as brightly dressed as her personality. Two more similar stature children followed her. A boy and a girl. The boy dark brown hair which looked black when viewed from far. He was grinning as he followed the girl. Probably happy to see his old friend again. And the other girl had rather longer brownish -red hair reaching up to her waist.

"Aya chan! Hiro kun! Misaki chan! Hi! " Mikan had begun shrieking now. Natsume had to actually close his ears with his fingers so that his eardrums would not get damaged.

"It is you! It's been a while Mikan chan! How are you ?" the girl with the highlights said.

"See I told you it was her. I recognized her from her giggles. She's not changed a bit in these two years. Still the same Mikan with a cute laughter. I like it so much that I can recognize her laughter anywhere, anytime!" As soon as the boy spoke this Natsume's all attention shifted from the shrieking Mikan to that annoying idiot who _liked_ _his_ Mikan's smile. He felt a pang of jealousy rise up inside of him. So he reached for her hand and grabbed it. Mikan , was naturally embarrassed to hold his hand in front of all her friends, tried to free her hand but his grip was tight.

"Is that so? You think you know her very well, huh? " He said tersely with his usual sarcasm. The boy, Hiro wondered at the rudeness of the strange boy with pierced ears who was _holding _onto his childhood friend's hand.

"Is Hotaru chan back as well?" The long haired girl, Misaki asked.

"Yes, she is. Actually we were on our way to Hotaru's house. We just came home this morning. I brought some friends over from the Academy with me. "

" Thank god you're okay! When we watched the news on TV about all the uprising in your school. We were all so worried. Your Ji chan was also so restless, you know. So the' Academy' is _that_ bad of a place? Did you guys run away from there? Or were you kicked out for being too stupid? " Aya said.

"oh! No! Don't worry it's all over now. The evil guy is defeated! And I wasn't kicked out you know! On the contrary I was promoted to a three star rank! " Mikan said proudly. She was so happy about this promotion that she spent three entire days doing nothing but stare at the shinning three star badge she was given by Shiki san. It was a big achievement for her from a no star to a three star. From rags to riches. Mikan was lost in those thought of luxurious life style she would get when the Academy started.

"Hello! Mikan chan you with us! Come back to earth." Misaki brought her to senses.

"So this three star thing means you're like the highest post or what? That's great Mikan chan! Congratulations. I am really glad you're back safe and sound and still smiling." Hiro added on.

"Thank you, Hiro kun" Mikan nodded while trying to hide her blush from both the boys.

"No." Natsume has had it, "I am the highest ranking student. Special star. I bet you can get one of those."

"Who is this boy Mikan chan? A friend from the 'academy' you talked about?" Misaki asked, "He's kinda weird."

"Yeah weird, but kinda cute! " Aya added giving Natsume a wink. Mikan was irritated by the comment made by her friend.

"Actually, I am her _boyfriend_. And if I might say we're practically engaged. " He said proudly loud and clear. Both Aya and Hiro frowned a little. Misaki was smiling in happiness. "Natsume Hyuuga. That's who I am. Might want to remember that name."

"Wow! Mikan chan I had no idea you'd be the first one among us to get a boyfriend! And to top it all engaged! That's sooooooo romantic! Awwww!" Misaki gave Mikan a huge hug. Mikan was red from top to toe. She was giving Natsume an angry look.

'_Why did he mention the' engaged ' part'_ Mikan was thinking in her mind. _'He really loses it when he gets jealous '_

" Well, Mikan chan, you've had a lot of experiences at the 'Academy'. I can see that. Congratulations." Hiro said trying to hide his displeasure.

"T-Th-thanks" Mikan didn't know what else to say.

"HEY YOU MIDGETS! I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM THIS GROUND DIDN'T I? HOW DARE YOU COME HERE AGAIN? " A taller boy, about fifteen with long brown hair in a short pony tail. He had a pierced left ear. The typical delinquent punk type. He was followed by two others. Who were just as filthy as he was. They looked exactly alike.

"This is _our_ football ground! Don't ever come here again! " One of the sidekicks twin spoke.

"Hey! Who says it's _your _ground? It's a public place. Leave us alone!" Mikan spoke.

" _Who says so? _I say so! I am Tamaki, the king of this area! " Their leader spoke, " You look like a fresh meat! " He gave Mikan a scary look.

"Hey! Tamaki! Pick on someone your size!" Natsume warned him.

"Call me KING " Tamaki corrected Natsume.

"I'll never do that, you DUMBASS. " Natsume was seriously pissed off with that guys atittude.

"Mikan chan it's wise to just walk away. Tell Hyuuga kun to give it up. These guys are really dangerous. Let's go before anyone gets hurt." Misaki gave a sensible suggestion.

"Misaki's right. Mikan chan let's go. " Aya vindicated her friend. Hiro too nodded in agreement.

"Natsume, let's g-" Before she could finish what she was saying, one of the twin grabbed her and held her in his tight grip. He took everyone by surprise. Aya and Misaki gasped. Hiro looked scared too.

"Mikan chan! " They yelled.

"LET GO OFF HER YOU BASTARD! " Natsume roared.

"Want your precious little girlfriend back?" Tamaki mocked him, while he took Mikan from the twin and put his hand on her cheeks and tried to roughly caress her.

"GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF HER YOU-"

"My...My... you're really rude for a little kid. Boys ."

"My King."They said in unison . They immediately understood the 'kings' orders and grabbed hold of the remaining three. " Let us go please we won't come here again. We promise." Misaki begged them.

Mikan was not going to just stand there as a damsel in distress. She had gone through a lot and had gathered enough courage from all her experiences at the Academy. She opened her mouth wide and bit Tamaki's hand which was resting on her chest. She bit it so hard that he had to let go.

" YOU DAMN, BITCH! SHE BIT ME." Tamaki yelled.

"Your majesty! Are you okay!" The twins came rushing to their master's aid thus freeing the three of them as well.

"You idiots! Why did you let the hostages go!" instead of appreciating their loyalty he yelled at them.

Natsume grabbed this opportunity and ran right up to the 'King' with his fist ready to blow off his jaw. His punch landed right on Tamaki's left cheek causing a trail of blood to flow from the left corner of his mouth. He kept delivering punches after punches on alternate cheeks until Mikan stopped him.

"Natsume ! That's enough! Let's go! " She pulled his arm. The group of pre teens was about to leave when Tamaki spoke again, "Is that all you got! Shrimp! Chickening out and hiding behind your girlfriend! Fight like a man."

"Hey you guys go straight to Mikan's place and take her with you. Hiro I am counting on you. Get her safe there! " Saying this he walked back towards the trio.

" Natsume! Where are you going! Come back! " Mikan tried to follow him, but Hiro grabbed her arm and stopped her. "No Mikan chan you mustn't go back! Hyuuga kun told me to take you girls straight home."

"You don't understand we have to take Natsume with us. Natsume! Natsume! Come back! "

"Mikan just go. Please .Got some scores to settle here."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry I intended to finish off this right here but I am really sleepy, so will finish this fight part in next chapter. Hope you liked it! It's my first time doing such a fight scene.**

**As always please leave reviews and comments!**

**Thanks!**

**P S I know the leader and twins and "call me king" a lot like Ouran Host club, right?**


	17. Showdown

**A/N: Well as promised I wrote this chap as soon as I woke up today. Hope you guys like it. Sorry for the cliffhanger in the last chap! Without further adieu...**

**Chapter 14: Show down **

"Just GO!" Natsume said for the last time. Mikan was too shocked to move. Taking advantage of that Hiro grabbed her hand and started running along with the two other girls. When Mikan was back to her senses they were far away from the ground.

"Hiro kun, why did you do that? We've to go bring Natsume back with us."

"Mikan chan, it's too dangerous we can't go back." Misaki wisely told her.

"You don't understand, if Natsume gets hurt...then...I...I...it'll be all my fault...I can't bear to lose him again..." Mikan was literally crying her eyes out by the time she finished her sentence. Not one of her three friends knew what was she referring to, but they had known Mikan very well and understood that Natsume meant a lot to her and that she didn't want to see him get hurt ever again.

"Mikan chan, I understand how much he means to you. But I can't let you go back there. I am sure Hyuuga kun also wouldn't want that. Please just come with us back to your home. I promise you that once you're home, I'll go back to help Hyuuga kun out. But first I have to take you safely back home. Okay?" Hiro tried to comfort her by placing his arm around her.

"He's right, Mikan chan. Let's go." Aya told her. "You know everything will be okay when that idiot says something sensible."

"Gee thanks Aya. Way to support." Hiro said sarcastically.

The old friends ran straight home without further arguments or discussions. By the time they arrived at the rendezvous they were panting heavily. Hearing the footsteps and the voices of anxiety and worry, Aoi and Ruka rushed to see what was going on outside. They were shocked to find Mikan and three other strangers gasping there for air.

"Oneechan, what's the matter? Why are you guys panting so much? Where's oniisan?" Aoi was worried when she saw the four running into the house and then gasping for air.

"Hyuuga kun is in big trouble. He got into a fight." Misaki answered Aoi.

"What!" Both Aoi and Ruka said in unison.

"Where's everybody else?" Mikan asked the two, while referring to the elders.

"They've all gone for an evening walk. All three of them. It's just the two of us." Aoi said, her voice was clearly reflecting panic and fear. Her brother just didn't like staying out of trouble, did he?

"I am going to help Natsume." Ruka said with a firm and determined voice. "That time, I couldn't do anything but walk away as he told me to. I should have been there for him during the battle too, then he...he...All that wouldn't have happened if I had stayed by his side and fought. But this time I am going to help him. I don't know how he got into the mess, but as his best friend I'm going to get him out of there." Both Mikan and Aoi knew what incident Ruka was referring to. During the battle with ESP, Ruka as well as Tsubasa and other were forced to leave Natsume alone with ESP and when Natsume had died at the end, Ruka had blamed himself for abandoning him there, even though he did that as Natsume told him to. He had often expressed this regret of his. Even after everything was over and that Natsume was finally back.

"Um...I can help you with that..." Hiro trailed off.

"Ruka Nogi."

"Nogi kun I'll lead you to Hyuuga-kun. Follow me."

And then without another word, the two boys ran off to aid Natsume. Neither Mikan nor Aoi got a chance of stopping them.

"I hope they all return safe and sound." Aoi said.

* * *

'_Damn it! At a time like this I need my alice and I don't have it. How ironic. I could've burn these imbeciles to ashes in a spilt second...'_ Natsume thought while he dodged a punch from Tamaki.

"My turn!" He clenched his fists and forced his fist right into Tamaki's stomach.

"That was for touching my girlfriend!" Tamaki yelled in pain. But the black cat ignored his cries. Natsume swung his feet and forced another kick in the same spot.

"That's for calling my girlfriend a bitch!"

"He..He.. you're forgetting kid, there's three of us! Now boys."

And swish Natsume gets a punch on his left cheek. Before he can recover from it, another comes flying on his right cheek. The attacks from the twins knock him down on the ground. A trail of blood rolls down from the left corner of his mouth. He gets up, cleans it off and smiles.

"What's so funny midget!"Tamaki mocks him.

"You know I have dealt with a lot worse than this. I've done things that will make you shiver in your boots if I tell you about them. Those blows are nothing. I've handled trained black ops soldiers, who are more powerful than the three of you put together. No even then you three wouldn't be that strong, perhaps just one-eight of it. They called me 'The Black Cat'..." And he rushed to punch Tamaki one more time.

"...know why? Because the day I crossed their path, it would be worse than bad luck..." Another punch landed.

"...which is more than I can say for you..." And another one. This time the twins grabbed him and hurled him down on the ground again. Before he could get up again, Tamaki kicked him.

"You're still all alone, Mr Black Cat."

"No, he's not. He has friends. " Ruka said as he grabbed Tamaki's foot, resting on Natsume's cheek and twisted it backwards. One of the twin advanced to attack Ruka but Hiro blocked him.

"Not so fast, pretty boy!" And the two of them engaged in a hand to hand combat.

With one blow Ruka backed Tamaki off and lend Natsume a hand to get up.

"Watch out!" Natsume yelled as the other twin pounced on Ruka's back. Ruka dodged the attack thanks to Natsume's warning. Ruka too found himself an opponent. Now all three of them were up in a one on one fist fight. Sure Ruka was the only one who could use an alice, but he abstained from using it. He didn't like to use his alice to fight it would not only hurt his opponents but also the poor innocent animals.

"So it's down to one on one, huh?" Tamaki was a strong one. He got up again after all that bruises and cuts. Natsume hated to admit that but it was the fact.

"Let's start this!" Tamaki said.

"Let's finish this!" Natsume contradicted him. He went straight for the face punch again. Dodged a blow by bending down, but he managed to get a hit.

"You know what you're problem is brat! You're a good attacker. But when it comes to defenses, you lose. That's where I get the play! Take this." Natsume got hit directly in the stomach. He crouched in pain and spewed out a blood clot. Tamaki was right. Having the fire alice had always put him in the attacking position on all his fight during his missions. Nobara took care of the defenses by building an ice wall. Natsume had to never worry about defense before. As a result he had poor defense skills. Defense was his Achilles hill.

'_Damn it! He knows my weakness!'_

"Gottcha!" Tamaki grabbed Natsume's hair and shook him violently. Tamaki then hurled him on the ground and reached for his legs. He grabbed them and twisted his right ankle and thus sprained it. Natsume screamed in pain. It was a shrill sound. Ruka was distracted for a moment and looked at him. "Natsume!"

"Your opponent is me! Never take your eyes off your enemy!" The twin seized the moment to shift the balance on his winning side. But he was no match for Ruka.

Natsume tried to stand up but his sprained ankle didnot bear his weight and he was about to collapse again. Somehow he managed to stand with a leg, but still was wavering his arms in air to balance

"Now how will you attack when you can't stand still!" Tamaki raised his hand to punch Natsume.

'_Oh! Shit! I am gonna...' _Natsume closed his eyes and waited for the hit. He waited. Waited. And waited.

'_Huh?...what the heck?'_ Natsume opened his eye to find Tamaki lying on the ground unconscious. Snoring.

'_Wait. He's not unconscious...he's...sleeping?...__ That means that moron here__.__'_

"Natsume kun! I think you'd had enough fighting for your lifetime. Don't go fishing for more." Narumi said in his sing song manner.

"What are you doing here?" Natsume asked, without thanking him, "I had it sorted."

"You know I just saved your ass. "

"Little help here, too!" Hiro yelled from at the distance. A ring of fire surrounded the twin battling Hiro and he was trapped in their with confusion and horror written all over his face. Narumi went next to him and blew his sleepy kiss into his ears. Hiro totally freaked out on seeing two weird things at the same time. The latter being more weird. He immediately steeped away from Narumi, out of fear and suspicion.

"You okay, kid?" Narumi asked him.

"Y..Ye..eah..."

Before Narumi could proceeded to use his alice and put the last twin to sleep. He himself ran away waving his arms in the air, yelling out,

"YOU ALL ARE INSANE! I'LL NEVER COME BACK TO GROUND IT 'S HAUNTED! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA..."

"Natsume! You okay!" Ruka and his father both rushed to support a collapsing Natsume.

"Yeah I guess."

"You're in big trouble young man." His father was trying to scold him, but apparently wasn't that good at playing the strict dad yet.

"You know getting into a fight is not the best way to impress your girlfriend's grandfather. On the contrary it'll do your reputation more damage." Narumi mocked him.

Natsume was irritated, "Shut up!" He then noticed Mikan's Ji chan standing at the distance. He seriously started to think about what Narumi told him.

"That man there...is he queer ?" Hiro asked Ruka in a whisper while pointing to Narumi. Ruka smiled at the question. "No. But he's little weird."

The group walked as Natsume was supported by Ruka and his arm each on one arm. " we were all having a nice evening walk when we heard all the commotion you boys were causing and these two had to come to your help. Today's youth is so irresponsible. Don't you boys think beyond fights?" Nono Sakura said when the group reached him.

'_So much for reputation'_ Natsume thought.

* * *

Mikan and Aoi were pacing up and down the courtyard in anxiety and worry. The two other girls were calmly sitting down, trying their best to calm those two as well.

"Don't worry you two. They'll be fine." Misaki said once again.

"Yeah, Hyuuga kun looks pretty tough, I'm sure he can deal with those -." Aya added. Aya couldn't complete her sentence as a group of six walked in. They were back, safe and sound. Well mostly. First thing Mikan searched for was Natsume, her eyes widened when she saw him leaning onto his father and Ruka.

"Natsume!" She ran towards him with her arms flung wide out. Tears were flowing down uncontrollably from her eyes. "Oh! Natsume!..." She leapt straight into his arms ignoring the fact that he could barely support his weight and that there were at least ten people watching them. He placed his arms around her to comfort her. Thanks to Ruka and his father's support the two didn't end up falling. She hugged him very tightly as if he was back from a big war. "Baka! Why would you do that? Don't you get tired of fighting?"

"Mikan..." That was all he could say. Mikan's Ji chan gave a prompting cough as if reminding those two that he was watching them. Realizing that her Ji chan was there as well, Mikan blushed and stepped back immediately.

"So...a...Ruka pyon...Hiro kun...you guys okay?... Narumi sensei how come you guys are with them?" Mikan said.

"I'm fine." Ruka answered.

"I'm so glad you're okay Ru chan, Oneesan." Aoi spoke this time, " Stay out of trouble for a while you two."

"Got a few bruises but otherwise, I'm okay" Hiro answered.

"The Knight in shining armour, Hiro returns from battle!" Aya mocked him again.

"Give him a break Aya!" Misaki said. Everyone started laughing at Aya's comment. Narumi then explained how they happened to meet the trio and helped them out with the fight and dissolved it before anyone got seriously hurt.

"Mikan chan, better call up Imai san. I think Natsume kun might in need of his alice _again_. Since he can't walk I think it's best if Imai san comes here."Narumi ended his explanation with this.

So in the end, Hotaru did come to Mikan's place but only to shot baka gun shots at her for starting a fight and getting into trouble. And thus their first day ended with a lot of memories having been created.

* * *

"Mikan and her friends are really weird!" Hiro exclaimed while walking home with the two girls. "That feminine man whom they call 'sensei' tops in the weirdness, he can make people sleep by blowing kisses and that Hyuuga's dad he can create fire and not to mention Hotaru chan's brother and his amazing healing powers. Hyuuga kun was able to walk immediately after the green glow that Imai san created on his sprained ankle."

"I agree. I think this 'Academy' is a place for freaks and weirdoes not 'geniuses'. I mean if it were for 'geniuses' they wouldn't accept Mikan there!" Aya mentioned.

"Aya, you're really mean. Don't call our friends freak! I think Mikan chan's lucky to have made so many friends! And she even got a boyfriend! Can you guys believe it!" Misaki's eye's turned to sparles. She had lot of fascinations about romances.

"Yeah. Don't remind!" the other two said in despair.

"Hyuuga kun's so cute. I think Hyuuga kun's too good for her!" Aya exclaimed.

"Aya!" Misaki warned her again.

And as the night stars showed up the three friends walked on ahead debating and arguing about their old friend's new life!

**A/N:** **Please leave your review here else I'll have Natsume burn you to crips**! **;-p**


	18. Side story 3: Driving lesson

**A/N : So this side story is about Tsubasa and Misaki. They are my second favorite couple after Natsume and Mikan. The story takes place during the holidays, I don't know much about their past so I assumed that they come from the same town. **

**This side story also comes as a celebration for me receiving my driver's License! YAY !**

**Oh! And before I forget: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TSUBASA ! (15****th**** July )**

* * *

**Side Story 3: Driving Lesson **

" MISAKI! SLOW DOWN! TOO FAST, YOU WON'T MAKE THE CURVE!HIT THE DAMN BRAKESSSSSSSSSS! " Tsubasa yelled at the top of his lungs.

"IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED I AM ON IT!" Misaki yelled back equally loud. And jerk. If it weren't for the seat belt both of them would've surely hit the windscreen ahead. The car stopped right on the curve as it's drivers futile attempt to slow it down. Tsubasa pulled up the hand breaks at once.

"How many times do I have to tell you. P.r.e.s.s the c.l.u.t.c.h. _first _and t.h.e.n. the b.r.a.k.e.s. "Tsubasa said stressing on each word as he spoke, "Else the car will stop dead when you press the brakes. We just wanted to slow down NOT stop. Get it? At this rate you'll end up breaking my back by the time you learn driving. The battle with ESP was better than this." He mumbled the last sentence under his breath, so that Misaki wouldn't hear it.

And slam. A hand chop landed straight on his head. "Let me first break your head and then I'll break your back." _' Damn! She did _hear_ that sentence!' _This time Tsubasa made sure that he didn't say it out loud.

"You've got to treat a car, like you treat a woman!" He exclaimed.

"Really. Interesting. Please elaborate. " Misaki said sarcastically while narrowing her eyes.

"No. I think I've said a lot of things I shouldn't have." Tsubasa knew better than anyone not to piss Misaki off.

"Tsubasa! You're a jerk!" Misaki said.

"Okay. Sorry. Let's start again." Tsubasa apologized and let out a deep breadth ," Start the car."

Teaching was difficult. Especially teach someone to drive. Especially when that someone was a girl. And especially when that girl was your girlfriend! After the school was closed and all were sent home, even these two came home. Staying at home doing nothing for about three weeks, Misaki got really bored. So one day when she and Tsubasa were on a date-

* * *

**Flashback...**

"_Hey! Tsubasa. Teach me to drive." She said confidently._

"_What!" Tsubasa almost choked on the coke he was drinking._

"_You heard me. I want to learn to drive." Misaki repeated her request. Well more of an order._

"_But you're 16! I'll teach you when you're 18." Tsubasa brushed her off._

"_You know in the States they give license at 16. So why can't I drive. Beside it's not like you have something better to do. You'll just be wasting time at home on the computer and read those crappy mangas. You should do something productive." Misaki was firm this time._

"_Okay then! But what will you drive?" He asked hoping when she runs out of options she'll turn down her order._

"_Don't be silly I know your dad gave you his old car as a home coming present. We'll use that."_

'_Oh! Boy this crazy lady's gonna blow up my present!' Tsubasa was hoping she wouldn't say that._

"_Okay then. I'll see you tomorrow. At six in the evening. Same usual spot. Okay?" He jumped down from the parapet he was sitting on and gave her a wink. _

"_Really! Thanks! Tsubasa I love you!" She too got down and gave him a huge hug._

"_Yeah, yeah...enough with the flattery." He kissed her. She did hit him loving on his head for his comment. And they started walking home. Anna truly said, they do act like old married couple!_

'_Maybe she'll give up in a day or two!' He thought to himself as they walked home.. But he turned out to be wrong. They had been doing the lessons for over an entire week. And Misaki was definitely not giving up so easily._

**End of flashback...**

* * *

Misaki pressed the clutch to the fullest. And turned on the keys. But in vain. The car would always stop with the same jerk . She repeated it again and again. Tsubasa tried to be as calm as possible and reminded, "Release the clutch very slowly, Misaki _dear_!"

"I know that, idiot. That's what I'm doing!" Misaki said.

"Ah! See here's your problem the car's in fourth gear. How can you start the car in 4th gear!" Tsubasa said. " Always pick up the engine in first gear, okay?"

"Right. Sorry. My bad." Misaki couldn't yell at him this time, because she had made a silly mistake. He had told her this basic thing when they first started the lessons. The car started _finally_.

"You're going good...Hmm...Take a little to the right...keep it steady...that's it...good." Tsubasa kept on advising her as they moved ahead.

"Would you please stop lecturing so much. It ruins my concentration." Misaki said.

"Hey! A driver has to be a multitasked. These little _lectures_ I keep giving you are very important, you know." Tsubasa said. " Okay, now slow down...yeah that's right...stop at that milestone right there. I need you to stop at that _very_ spot. Not an inch here or there." He said while pointing at a milestone lying a few hundred meters ahead of them. Misaki did as she was told and stopped the car right there.

"So how was it, _sensei_?" Misaki asked eagerly.

"Nice. You need more practice that's all. Just focus little more, okay?"

"How come you know so much about driving? I mean all boys do. I guess it's a Y chromosome thing!" Misaki both asked and answered the question herself.

"Ha Ha..." Tsubasa was laughing his heart out. Seeing him laugh like reminded Misaki of Mikan.

"I wonder if she's started laughing this care freely again!" Misaki said while referring to the past when Mikan hadn't even smiled for days together as Natsume was in coma. Imagine Mikan not smile! She was worried if she had messed things up and that Natsume would never open his eyes.

"Don't worry about her. She did call us like a million times after Natsume woke up from come and she went on and on with her stories and laughter. They're all at her Ji chan's place, she called me up to tell me that, just yesterday. She was so excited about it. " Tsubasa said as he put an arm around his sad girlfriend and cheered her up.

"Yeah! That's our Mikan!" Misaki too almost smiled when she imagined Mikan laughing again with her Ji chan and Natsume by her side.

"It's Natsume I'm more worried about!" Tsubasa said.

"Why?" Misaki was puzzled.

"Knowing him I am not sure what kind of impression he'll create on his future Jichan!" Tsubasa mocked Natsume.

"Ha ha ha! You're right!" Misaki nodded, " He better make a good first impression , now that he has exchanged alice stones with Mikan they're gonna be soul mates" Tsubasa had told her everything, he heard from Koko the other night.

"Um...about that...Misaki...I...wanted to give you this-"

He stepped back a little and he cupped his hands, closed his eyes. He thought of all his feeling for Misaki. How they first met when they were three, their days at elementary school, becoming best of friends, fighting, bickering, then making up again, her giving him haircuts ( forcefully), their last dance(s),...his realization of his love for her,...his fear of losing her in the battle, his trust in her strength and alice...his confession...their dates and kisses...everything was being processed in his mind. A violet spark appeared in his cupped hands, which turned more intense, as his feeling did. Fragments of lilac stone were starting to appear in the heart of the flash of violet light. As Tsubasa'a feeling poured out, the fragments coalesced into a stone and its size increased until it was roughly the size of one's fist. The light vanished leaving the lilac stone in Tsubasa's cupped hands. He opened his eyes and spoke-

"I know we've already danced the last dance together and all. But I still want you to have this." He said while handing our the freshly made alice stone to her. Misaki was blushing pink, the pink on her cheeks was darker than her pink hair. She had tears weld up in her eyes.

"Oh! Tsubasa! I...Thank you..." She rushed into his arms and buried her face in his chest so that he wouldn't see her cry. She knew he would later make fun of her for crying like a _girl_! Tsubasa was always proud to love a strong, tomboy girl like her so she didn't want to ruin that impression by showing her tears.

"I'll accept it only if you accept mine." Misaki said after she made sure all her tears were gone. She backed off a little and reached out for a bluish green stone from her pocket. She always carried her alice stone with her, trying to find a proper situation to give it to Tsubasa, but she was too shy to take the first move so she waited for Tsubasa to do his. Tsubasa smiled at her, lovingly, " You had it with you all along! Sorry to have to make you wait!"

The stones switched their owner in what they call the romantic alice stones exchange ritual. Tsubasa placed his hand on her hot cheek and caressed it, slid it down her neck and pulled her face closer to his to give her a passionate kiss. Misaki kissed him back with equal enthusiasm and they both remained there frozen for hours forgetting all about the driving lesson!

* * *

**A/N: Done! Oh! Thank god the day hasn't ended it's still his birthday! Hope you guys liked it.**

**in case your wondering, the silly things Misaki did while driving I did them too! XD I had this similar fight with my dad when he was teaching me to drive! We've cars with gear here in India, so I faced the same problems as Misaki!**

**Please type out your thoughts in the box below and press the blue button beside it. **

**Yes, right there!**

**Thanks! **


	19. Shopping, gifts and conversations

**A/N: ****Hi there! Firstly thanks to all my readers and reviewers without your support I wouldn't have been able to reach this far. Thanks for all the support I really appreciate it. I never imagined that I would cross a 100 reviews when I started writing this story.! **

**And the 100****th**** reviewer is... *drums roll***

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Tadaa...**

**Distan33!**

**So I am dedicating this chapter to you. Thanks for the review! :-)**

* * *

**Chapter 15 Shopping , gifts and conversations! **

" But Ji chan I can't take that! Beside it is I who owes you...I even took away your savings when I ran away chasing Hotaru! " Mikan told him, when her Ji chan offered her 500 yen one morning.

"It's your home coming present. I wasn't sure what I should buy a teenage girl, not much experience with it. So with this go buy something for yourself. Consider that as my gift."

"But Ji chan, I can't- "

"Stopping arguing and take it! " Ji chan exclaimed.

"Arigato Gozaimasu! "Mikan said with a huge smile. And gave her Ji chan a huge hug. She was about to leave for her room, when he called out to her again.

"Mikan! I almost forgot to ask you something." Ji chan said, "That Hyuuga kid is a troublemaker. Getting into fights and all. What do you see in him?"

A stone dropped into Mikan's stomach. _Oh Boy! I am in trouble !_ "A...ha..ha..ha...Ji chan he's just a friend! That's all!"

"You've never been a good liar Mikan. You love him don't you?"

" ..ow did you know? Did he tell you something?" Mikan was blushing when she said that. Her long time secrete from her Ji chan was out.

" My granddaughter falls in love and I would fail to notice?" Ji chan said sarcastically.

" He's really nice guy, Ji chan. He's always there for me, whenever I need him. At first I really hated him because of his cold and cruel attitude. But he just acts all cool and all but he's a real softie inside. Our mothers were best friends. Ji chan, he really loves me. And I love him too." Mikan explained things out properly fearing her Ji chan would get wrong impression of Natsume and might disapprove of him.

"So has he kissed you?" Mikan flushed in all shades of red and pink. "Ha...Ha...Ha...I was just kidding. I am glad that you found someone who loves you in spite of being a big mouth. "

"Ji chan!" Mikan said half amused. "He's the one Ji chan...It's him that I am going to marry..." She thought it was better to tell everything to her Ji chan. She was hesitating because of his reaction but then she made up her mind to reveal all the cards.

"Marry? But you're barely thirteen! Mikan! What have you been up to while you were by yourself? " Mikan bowed her head down not to wanting to have eye contact with her Ji chan.

"It's not what you think Ji chan! There's this ritual in our academy of exchanging alice stones when you do so with someone you become soul mates. We've...meaning Natsume and I...We've exchanged the alice stones last Christmas. So we're technically engaged. That's all there is to it. I just want you to acknowledge our relationship that's all...I really want you to...please ji chan!" Mikan raised her head and faced him. Her tear filled hazel orbs were staring anxiously into the old man's tiny eyes.

'_She's really serious about it.__'_ Ji chan thought when he stared back into her eyes.

"Very well, you guys have my permission...blessings or whatever..."

"Really! Thanks Ji chan! I love you!" Saying this Mikan gave him a huge hug. "Does that boy's father know about you guys being engaged ?"

"Well...yeah I guess...almost everyone at the academy knows about it...I think..." Thanks to Koko everyone came to know about what happened at that miraculous Christmas eve.

"So when were you planning to tell me? If I hadn't opened the topic you'd kept me in dark?" Ji chan went on with his frivolous rebukes.

"Ji chan! I swear I was going to tell you. I wasn't sure what your reaction would be so I was hesitating that's all...Really no intention to hide it from you..." Mikan said apologetically.

"Ha Ha Ha no worries kiddo! Glad you told me everything. You're off the hook! " Ji chan hit her head in a friendly manner.

"Thanks...Ji chan...for everything..." Mikan got up and went hoping and skipping through the hallways.

* * *

"Hello! Mikan here! Konichiwa Imai san! Can I talk to Hotaru, please?...Hotaru! Hi! Guess what Ji chan has given me 500 Yen as home coming present. I was thinking we could go shopping. You know the two of us...Oh! Common on...please...please...please... please. pleaseeeeeeeeeee...it'll fun...Okay if you come along I'll get you a new camera for your blackmailing thing...please come on...Great! Then I'll see you in half an hour. Don't be late!"Mikan kept down the phone receiver and started deciding on what to wear and list of things to buy. She went into her room to pick a dress to wear and then sat on her bed thinking out loud.

"Let's see now I need to get Ji chan something as he lent me that money. Then something for Aoi chan, Narumi sensei, Hyuuga san...I wonder what he'll like..."

"Aren't you getting me something?" A familiar voice came from behind her.

"GYAAAAA! It's you Natsume! You scared the hell out of me!" Mikan said with relief when she turned around to see her boyfriend standing beside her bed with his hands in his pocket, "Wait a minute what are you doing in my room? Eavesdropping?"

"Hn. I've told you earlier, nothing's _wrong _with visiting your girlfriend's bedroom. And as always I wasn't _eavesdropping_ , you were talking too loud." He sat down beside her and took out his hands from pocket and placed them on her shoulder. "You didn't answer my question."

"Well, of course I'll buy you something. What do you want?"

"It's not something they sell in the market, you know."

"Really, is it that rare? What is it?" She asked with curiosity.

"A kiss." He moved his hands onto her waist and pulled her closer, leaned in to give her a kiss. Their lips were about to meet when-

"Hyuuga kun! Come over here I need your help!" Mikan's Ji chan yelled from the courtyard. Mikan chuckled when she heard that. Natsume gritted his teeth in regret and got up from the bed, that too only after pecking her lips for his satisfaction.

"Remember you still haven't given me what I asked you for!" He warned her, "Be back soon. I don't want to be alone with these freak!"

"Okay!Bye! Have fun with Jichan!"Mikan teased him.

* * *

"You're late, Mikan!" Hotaru hit her with her new improvised baka gun (version 2.5.1), "And you told _me_ not to be late! Baka!"

"Sorry Hotaru! I was deciding on the shopping list so I lost track of time! You don't have to hit me with that for just being just late. Is that a new baka gun?"

***Hotaru appears on the screen...***

_Invention number 166: Baka Sniper! New improvised version of Baka Gun. (version 2.5.1) _

_Improvements__: Hits harder. And of course best for long distance shooting. Here's a demo for it's range._

***Hotaru hops onto her swan scooter and moves 2 Km away from Mikan and shoots! ***

"Ouch! Cut it out Hotaru!" Mikan said rubbing her head," Hurry up we've lot of shopping to do!"

"First we buy my camera." Hotaru told Mikan who was at her gunpoint so she had no choice but to accept her condition.

"Don't you have your LOLRecorder?" said Mikan.

"It was stolen...I have my doubts on your boyfriend's sister!"

* * *

**Flashback to a week ago...**

"Ru-chan! Look I stole this LOLRecorder from Hotaru, she won't trouble you any more!" Aoi said excitedly to Ruka, one morning.

"WHAT! How did you manage to escape alive from her house! That too with the LOLRec. ! You're amazing Aoi! Thanks so much! " Ruka said with equal excitement.

"You really think I am amazing!" Aoi asked with eagerness. A pink shade was creeping on her cheeks.

"Of course. You're very sweet Aoi, I like you! Any guy would be lucky to have you." Ruka told her. As soon as she heard it she was in her own dream world, imagining stuff...

"Helooo! Aoi?" Ruka asked. He was waving his hand before her eyes.

"Oh! Yeah! Thanks a lot Ru chan! I like you a lot too!" Aoi took him by surprise and gave him a big tight hug. Ruka was oblivious to what Aoi's actual meaning was.

"Oi!What are you doing?" Natsume asked when he saw those two.

"Oniisan!" Aoi let go off Ruka when she saw him.

"She's not pestering you with all her whinning is she, Ruka?" Natsume too was clueless about Aoi apparent feeling for his best friend.

"No, your sisters just saved my reputation! She's really sweet, Natsume!" Ruka smiled.

"Hnn. Whatever. I am going for a walk wanna come Ruka?"

"Sure." Ruka said, "Thanks a lot Aoi. See you later."

"Yeah...see you...Ru...ka" She said blushing red hard.

**End of flashback...**

* * *

"...Yeah that's what must have happened..." Hotaru said.

"What are you talking about?" A confused Mikan finally asked.

"Nothnig. Above your level of understanding. Move it!" Hotaru said coldly.

It was hours before they finally sat down on a bench in the market. "Whew! That's a lot of shopping we did Hotaru! What do you say! I think I used up all my allowance!" Hotaru was smart enough to save her money and let Mikan buy her he camera!

"Baka! You should have saved some for your new school year at Academy!" Hotaru mocked her again.

"Oh!I didn't think about that! Silly me! Could you lend me some Rabbits when we get back? Please, Hotaru,please!" Mikan begged her.

"Baka!" Hotaru said. "Are you done it's nearly evening, we've been shopping since afternoon!"

"Yup all done, "Mikan said, _' except for N__atsume's present!'_ She thought in her mind.

"Let's go, home then!"

* * *

"This one's for you, Aoi chan!" Mikan said while handing over a soft stuffed teddy bear to her.

"Wow it's really cute Oneechan, thanks a lot!" Aoi gave her a big hug.

"Baka! Who gives teddy bears as a gift to ten year olds!" Natsume teased her.

"Oniisan's just jealous coz, you didn't get a present, right Ru chan?" Aoi said.

"Oh! I'll get my present you know!" Natsume smirked at Mikan when he said that and walked out of the room. Ruka was too busy admiring the book about animal caring Mikan bought him.

"Ji chan! I got you this. " Mikan said and gave him a walking cane!

"A cane! You got me a cane!" Nono Sakura said almost in shock.

"Well yeah! Isn't it very useful? You'll need it as you're getting older and all!" Mikan said innocently.

"Yeah pretty useful-" Nono Sakura hit Mikan on her head with the cane "-to hit! WHO ARE YOU CALLING OLD! Can an old man do that?" Everyone was shaking in their boots when they saw Ji chan's fury! Ji chan was glad that Mikan gave him the present but he can't stand _anyone_ calling him 'old'. No one can call him old!

"Ji chan...Oww...that hurt!" Mikan complained.

'_Natsume's gonna have a tough time with this old guy!'_ Narumi thought in his mind, which made him almost laugh out loud!

"Okay who's going to help with dinner?" Mr Hyuuga changed the topic. He tucked the paint brush that Mikan had bought him behind his ear and proceeded towards the kitchen. Mikan and Aoi agreed at once. All three of them proceeded to the kitchen. Ruka went out to find Natsume leaving Ji chan and Narumi alone in there.

"She care a lot about everyone but herself! " Nono Sakura told Narumi.

"Yeah, she does. Just like her mother." Narumi exclaimed. A tinge of sorrow spread all over his face. Nono noticed traces of tears at corner of his eyes, but Narumi quickly blinked hard to hide them.

"So I presume you knew that celestial maiden, who came to me that snowy winter night!" Nono tried to comfort Narumi by placing his hand on his back.

"Yeah I did!" Narumi said, "I knew her _very_ well, she was the bravest woman I've ever met." A vivid image of Yuka appeared before him. "Actually I knew both her parents. She was my sempai and he was our teacher. They loved each other very much."

"Was, huh? So they're dead!" Nono sighed in regret. "Did she get a chance to meet any of them?"

"Yeah. They were murdered." Narumi said with a flat emotionless voice," Mikan met her mother. Actually Yuka died right in front of her...our eyes and we couldn't do anything...nothing at all..." Narumi paused for a while and then continued, "Mikan met her father too for a very brief moment during a time travel accident."

"When she was little kid she would always ask me about her parents and I would tell her that they were stars in the sky and she would keep staring at the stars every night and talk to them as if she were talking to her parents." Nono said, " Why didn't she tell me about her mother's death?"

"She didn't want to worry you. That's all. Just like sempai. She looks a smaller version of Yuka sempai, same hair, eyes...so beautiful...Her nature's exactly like sensei. Bringing smile on everyone's face, that's just like Izumi sensei." Narumi was lost in his past life by now. He went on to narrate Mikan's parent history and included Natsume's history in it as well, hoping that doing so would give Natsume a good impression on Ji chan. No details were skipped. He even confessed that he loved, no still loves Yuka.

"...Yuka sempai remains the only woman I'll ever love. She was...brave, caring, selfless and beautiful."

"Thanks for sharing that with me, Anju san. That Mikan! Poor girl, she sure has been through a lot!" Nono exclaimed. "At first when I didn't get any letters from her I thought that her going to the academy was a bad decision...But now that I see her today, I stand corrected. She has grown. She has matured in these two years. She has had experiences which she'd never have if she stayed here. And I'm happy that she was in safe hands there. Protected. Thanks to all of you. Thanks to that Hyuuga kid...She found out her past, her parents. She gathered courage and has gotten brave. And lastly, she fell in love! I can see she's very serious about her relationship with the Hyuuga kid... Both of them are." Nono said.

"So you approve of it?" Narumi asked with curiosity.

"They won't listen to me even if I protest now, will they?" Both of them laughed out loud. " He's blunt, arrogant and rude! But he cares deeply for her. He will always protect her. Love her from bottom of his heart. I want nothing more from a grandson in law! "

"Dinner's ready!" Aoi came holding a tray in her hand, "Ru chan! Oneechan! Come for dinner!"

"Hey what were you two chatting for so long?" Mikan ,who came with another tray, asked anxiously. She placed it on the table.

"Nothing just boring adult stuff!" Saying this Narumi picked her up and tossed her in the air like a child. Mikan laughed out loud as she bounced in air!

"P.u.t h.e.r d.o.w.n. NOW!" Natsume who'd just entered the room commanded. He wanted to torch Narumi's frilly hair right then!

"There! There! Natsume kun don't be so jealous now!" Narumi teased him. Everyone laughed and began the dinner.

* * *

**After Dinner-**

Mikan sat on her bed in her room, with a book covered in pink gelatin in her hand. It was her journal, Mikan's journal as she had titled it. She was so engrossed in it that she didn't notice Natsume sneak into her room! He snatched the book from her hands and started reading it.

"Hey! give it back!" Mikan demanded. Natsume ignored her and went on reading the page he had opened. "Natsume!" She warned him again. But he wasn't planning on doing that, he was enjoying reading her journal! He was almost giggling when he read this:

**MIKAN'S LIST OF THINGS TO DO IN FUTURE**

**First thing I want to do when I finally get out here is to visit my parents grave. Ever since my mother's funeral I have not visited it even once. (**_**checked)**_

**The next thing I want to do is visit Jichan! I miss him soooooo much. I haven't seen him once since I came to the academy **_**.**__** (checked)**_

**I want to eat a whole lot of Howalon. **_**.**__**( checked)**_

**Visit the new amusement park in central town that Shiki san told me about.**

**I want to go to the beach with all my friends and wet my feet in the water. ( The truth is I have **_**never,**_** I repeat **_**never, **_**to a beach before!)**

**I want to ride the Ferris wheel with Natsume.**

**I want to go on a date with Natsume. ( Weird right? We're practically engaged but haven't officially gone on a date!) **

**To go shopping with Hotaru. **_**.**__** (checked)**_

**To travel in the Shinkansen with Natsume and watch from in there. (Isn't it a unique combination of Nature and Technology!) **_**.**__** (checked)**_

**I want to have the biggest and the grandest wedding in the whole history of the Alice Academy! ( Okay this is way way ahead in future)**

"Well out of 10, you've finished five of them! That's good going polka!" he teased her, "You're halfway through! Although I wonder how long it'll take for the last wish..."

"Natsume!" Mikan was red both with embarrassment and anger. "Why did you come to my room!"

"Geez polka, give me some respect else I won't take you on a date and your wish list will remain unfinished! And anyways I told you there's nothing wrong with visiting your girlfriend's room now is there?"

"Natsume!"

"I came here for my gift, you know!" He said when she'd finally calmed down.

"You were mean to me, read my journal, you're not going to get it." Mikan said with attitude.

"Well then you're wish list isn't coming true! "Natsume started to blackmail her. "Common now just a kiss, do it" He used the same line from their Christmas meeting to melt her emotionally and bring her to kiss him.

"Natsume." Mikan said with sincerity, "I do have a _real_ gift for you." She took out a box from her cupboard, the same box Natsume gave her that day in the Academy, Izumi's box. She sat down on her bed again and Natsume sat beside her placing an arm around her shoulder.

She opened the box. Her only inheritance from her father. It wasn't filled with precious expensive items but items which were precious to Izumi and now to Mikan. On the inner side of the wodden lid of the box, Izumi had craved "IzumiXYuka" and enclosed it in a heart shape. There were various metallic emblems with weird names on them, some were even rusted, Mikan assumed that they were her father's prizes from the motorcycle races he'd won. During her imprisonment at the Labyrinth Mansion, her uncle had told her stories about how her father was a leader of a famous motorcycle gang and he'd won many races. Then there was a lighter in there. Izumi had quit smoking when he joined as a teacher, but he had kept the lighter in there as a memory of old days. A photo with her parent including Kaoru Igarashi, Narumi in the background was neatly laid in a corner of the box. Another photo of the two brother was also present. Izumi was giving a wide ear to ear grin in the photo and Kazumi was well he was nonchalant as always. Other small thing like bottle caps, rubber bands, whistles which Izumi probably played with as a child were randomly scattered in the box. At the right corner of the box Mikan found a bracelet, with 'Rei' craved on it. It probably was persona's alice restraining device, Izumi was probably planning to give it to him later, before he...

All those things were nothing but junk, but it meant a great deal for Mikan to have connection to her father. She treasured it dearly. Looking at the items in there, Mikan was reduced to tears. Seeing her tears, Natsume pulled her in for a tight hug. "I'm fine now." When Mikan finally said this only then did he let her go. Mikan cleared out the tiny items and pushed them aside and cleared out the left corner of the box. A violet velvet box was hiding in there. She took it out and laid the box on her bed.

"I didn't buy you this present, but...I think my daddy was going to give this to my mum...but he couldn't...I'd like you to have it..." She said while handing Natsume the small velvet box. They both knew without opening it what it was. Natsume didn't know what to say. He slid the box in his pocket and simply hugged her again.

"I know usually a guy does this stuff...but I'd like this to be my wedding ring..." Mikan said. Tears appeared in those hazel orbs once more.

"Mikan" He said lovingly, "I understand. It's okay. Stop crying please. You look ugly when you cry." He faced her, locked his eyes into hers. He put his hand on her cheeks and caressed her while whipping away her tears. She came closer to his face until their noses were brushing against each other. She didn't stop there, she went all the way to meet his lips with hers. He was the one who backed out first. But she pulled him in for another long kiss. She didn't admit it to anyone, not even herself, but she loved to kiss him, a lot. He was a good kisser, better than Ruka since she'd kissed him too, only once though. As soon as the thought of Ruka and her kiss clouded her mind, she got nervous and backed out.

"What's wrong?" Natsume asked, he too was enjoying the kiss, he hated the interruption.

"Natsume, I...well...I...Nothing." Mikan said. She did feel a lot guilty about her kiss with Ruka, but she didn't know how to tell that to Natsume. She was scared that the two of them might fight.

"If you have something to tell me just spit it out!" Natsume told her.

"No it's nothing. Sorry to worry you." She said with a smile, "Now you need to go, it's getting late, besides if ji chan finds you here, he'll kill you."

"Oh! That reminds me, I am NOT a SOFTIE, you know!" Natsume told her.

"You were eavesdropping on me and Ji chan this morning!"

"Geez! Why do you always accuse me of eavesdropping. Your Ji chan's the one who told me about your little convo."

"Really? He did? When?" she asked eagerly.

"While you were out shopping, remember he'd called me to talk to him. He told me that he knew about 'us'."

"So what did he tell you?"

"He told me that I should make sure you wear clean and new polka dots every day."

"Natsume!"

"What! Can't I joke?"

"No, you suck at it." She teased him.

"Well at least I don't suck at kissing!" He said while pulling her in for another kiss.

" No but seriously, tell me what did you guys talk about?" Mikan said when she broke out of the kiss.

"Nothing much. Pretty boring conversation actually. He lectured me about some stuff...honestly I wasn't paying attention towards the end. But I'm glad he's approved of us. That's all that matters to me." He said.

"Okay need to sleep, now go." She literally pushed him out of her room.

"How a good night kiss?" He tempted her.

"I think you have had enough kisses for today. Greedy!" But she did give him a quick peek on his lips before she slammed the door on his face.

'_She's surely hiding something from me!'_ Natsume thought as he walked into his and Ruka's room.

* * *

**A/N: Very long, right? sorry** **that. And also sorry for late update!**

**Anyways hope you enjoyed. **

**BTW this chap's linked a little with my other one shot, so in case you want to read what other things Mikan wrote in the journal, read that story.**

**A big thanks to Kira chan, my friend from mangafox, who helped a lot with the idea Od Izumi's box and the new summary!**

**Thanks Kira chan!**

**Please review! ^^**


	20. Ruka's mansion

**A/N: Hey! So after a month long wait chapter 166 is out! Check it out guys.**

**Good news: Most of my predictions are coming true, read the chap and find out no spoiler here.**

***SPOILER ALERT***

**Luna betraying ESP, Kazumi giving advice to save Natsume! **

**Wow just like I predicted! XDDD**

***END OF SPOILER***

**Bad news: Chapter 167 will be released two months later on Sept 20! Such a long wait!**

**Anyways I am glad that the manga is going just like my story! XD**

* * *

**Chapter 16: Ruka's mansion**

"Yeah...Hmmm...hmmm...hmmm...yeah...okay...hmm..." Natsume was talking on phone. "...yeah...hmm..."

"Geez is that all he says? " Mikan commented on the fact that Natsume hardly spoke a word, " How can you make out what they're talking about?"

"oniisan! What's Ru-chan saying?" Aoi asked anxiously.

Natsume ignored the two girls, "...we'll be there... Bye!"

"What were you two talking about?" Mikan asked.

"We've have to go to Ruka's place today for lunch! His mum's invited us." Natsume said.

"Wow! Really Ru chan's house, no I mean mansion. I am so excited!" Aoi was jumping with excitement.

It had been two days since the five of them had left Mikan's house and come to Natsume's to spend the rest of the holidays. Narumi got a phone call from Jin –Jin who was furious that Narumi was ignoring his work and went on hiatus without informing him. So he was forced to go back to the academy and finish the paper work. Hotaru's mum wanted that they lived together as a family- since Subaru went off to the Academy at very young age, so she wanted that the four of them stayed together for longer time. Hence Hotaru hadn't come. Mikan was granted permission to go there for a week so she had come to Natsume's house with them.

The Hyuugas' residence wasn't so big. The living room had a sofa and a small TV set. And well it was adorned with lot of paintings all made by Natsume's father. A portrait of Natsume's mother was hung in the main room, Mikan recognized her as she had seen her in the time travel window. The house had only one bedroom. Earlier that room was a bedroom cum workshop as due to lack of space Mr Hyuuga had converted the bedroom to his work area. Being an artist he wasn't that well off. But after sometime, when he had sufficient money ( the one which the Academy paid them off for Natsume's missions ) he made a new cabin outside his house and shifted his workplace there.

* * *

**Flashback...**

"_That's your mother, right?"__ Mikan said pointing at the portrait on the wall._

"_Hmm." Natsume just said that. "Doesn't Oniisan look a lot like Okasan?" Aoi asked Mikan._

"_Yeah, Natsume, Aoi-chan's right! You do look a lot like your mother!" Mikan said. Mr Hyuuga entered the room holding a mattress in his hand which he'd removed from the store room for the guest._

"_Sorry Mikan-chan we only have one bedroom!" Mr Hyuuga told her the night they arrived at Natsume's house. _

"_It's okay! You don't have to apologize for that!" Mikan said, "It'll be fun. All of us together in a room!"_

"_Okay then Mikan-chan and Aoi can sleep on one mattress. And me and Natsume on the other!" He told the kids._

"_Aoi, you want to sleep with daddy? I can share the mattress with Mikan you know!" Natsume spoke much to Mikan's annoyance._

"_No! I want to sleep with Aoi-chan!" Mikan protested," Natsume you're a big pervert!"_

"_What! Me? Who was the one begging to sleep with me the other day?" Natsume smirked._

"_Natsume! You..." Mikan was really furious now, she was about to start a fist fight with her boyfriend._

"_There, there...now __stop fighting now you two!" Mr Hyuuga interrupted their fight, "Natsume I am your father, you'll do as I say! What I said is final!"_

_On her victory, Mikan poked out her tongue at Natsume and as always he simply said, "Hn. Whatever."_

**End of flashback...**

* * *

"Those two body guards are creepy stalkers!" Natsume commented.

"You're right, son. They even don't let Ru-chan go to the bathroom alone!" Mr Hyuuga added.

"Yeah I remember those two, their black shades and suite added to their personality." Aoi gave her opinion.

"Hey! Not fair! I don't understand anything you guys are talking about!" Mikan said.

"You'll find out when you get there." Natsume said almost smiling as he remembered how annoyed Ruka gets with their stalking.

* * *

**That afternoon-**

"How much further do we have to go!" Mikan complained.

"Just little more. Oneechan!" Aoi encouraged her.

"Quite whining like a little girl!" Natsume said.

"look there it is!" Mr Hyuuga pointed out.

"Whoa! It really is BIG!" Mikan had to actually raise her head to get a complete view of the mansion. It was too big to fit in a single glance, "Wow! Ruka is really rich! When I first saw the Academy I was like nothing can be larger than this place. But looks like Ru chan's place is much bigger..."

A camera was placed on top of the wall. Aoi and Mikan waved at it like silly girls thinking that Ruka would see them.

"You two are really embarrassing sometimes." Natsume pressed the button on the wall beside the gate, and a voice was heard on the machine:

" _Identification please."_

"Natsume hyuuga and his family."

"_Welcome Hyuuga san. Master Ruka's expecting you in the hall. Please come in."_ As soon as the voice stopped, the huge iron gate opened on its own. A long road led to the entrance of the mansion with large gardens laid out on it's either side. A fountain was in middle of the garden. Trees were abundant there. And of course animals were flourishing in the huge gardens. As they walked through the garden Aoi and Mikan gave little cries of "Kawaii" "wow" and stuff. Sometimes even Mr hyuuga joined them in admiration.

"Welcome! Hyuuga sans and Sakura san." A maid greeted them as they reached the door. She opened it for them. As excepted the interior was just as magnificent. The huge hall was adorned with priceless sculpture and artifacts. The walls were covered with paintings and portraits of the Nogi family ancestors, they captured Mr Hyuuga's attention. A stair case made of sparkling marbles was laid down at the end of hall which divided itself into two halfway through, each one ending at the first floor in opposite directions. Ruka and his mum were waiting for the guests in the hall. Like the Hyuugas had described, two body guards were standing right behind Ruka.

"Hi there! Ru-chan! Thanks for inviting us!" Aoi said with a smile."You're welcome!" Ruka smiled back at her. Aoi blushed a little as she met his gaze. Mr Hyuuga noticed this and smiled on the fact that both his children were growing up faster than he thought.

" Welcome everyone!" Ruka's mother said in her French-Japanese accent. Everyone's attention shifted from the decors to the host. She was dressed in a lilac gown with pearl necklace and earrings. Her curly hair covered her bare shoulders. She wore a diamond watch in her left hand and carried a small purse in the other. Mikan had seen her photo once and had met her briefly when Aoi was going home. But meeting her in person, made Mikan realize her true beauty.

"She looks beautiful!" Mikan tried her best to keep that to a whisper, but she was heard.

"Why thank you! You must be Mikan!" She said politely, " Ru chan writes about you a lot, you know! Nice to meet you personally!"

"Mother!" Ruka warned her. He knew that last comment would annoy Natsume, even though they were best friends. It did. He clenched his right fist tight and held Mikan's hand with the other.

"Let's all proceed to the dinner hall." She guided her guests to another huge room, where a long table was laid and a chandelier was hung from above. All the utensils were sparkling clean. The to guards followed Ruka closely.

"Doesn't it bother you?" Aoi asked him.

"A lot." He answered," Mother see, everyone finds this too annoying. I can take care of myself. No more bodyguards please."

" No way! After what happened at the Academy you getting into that fight and all. Your best friend almost died! It's a dangerous world you are too naive you need protection. I won't let anyone hurt my Ru-chan!" She squeezed him in a hug.

"Mother! You're embarrassing me!" Ruka complained as usual.

"Who's that?" Aoi asked while pointing at a picture of a blonde boy with shoulder length hair arm in arm with Ruka, both the boys were about seven years old.

"That's my French cousin, Alex. We took the picture when he had come to Japan for the first time on holidays."

The maids pulled out the chairs for everyone and all of them sat. Mikan who had never been to such high class etiquette dinner was fidgeting in nervousness.

"Hey! Natsume there are so many forks! Which ones to use?" She whispered to her boyfriend who was sitting beside her, still holding her hand. " Start from outside and move in. Copy me, okay?" He told her.

"How come you know so much about this?" she asked him.

"I learnt it during my training for mission. I had to often go in disguise to such dinners."

"Stop making stories up to make you look cool!"

"It's true. Every word." He assured her. She gave him a hard stare. He confessed, "Okay Ruka once thought me. Fine. Happy!"

"Very happy. I don't like when you lie to me."

"Neither do I" Natsume said in a serious tone, "Mikan there was something you wanted to tell me the day you gave me the ring, what is it?"

"Wh..wha..what...it's nothing I told you!" She tried to hide it.

"What are you two whispering? It's not your date you know!" Ruka joked.

"So are you an alice too, Nogi san?" Aoi asked.

"Yes. I have the alice to convert anything I want into gold." She took a piece of silverware and in an instant it turned to god!

"Wow! Cool!" Mikan exclaimed.

"Ruka's father is not an alice though. He inherit the alice from my side of family." She told them, " He's mostly travelling on business tours, rarely remains at home!"

"Do you miss him?" Mikan asked her.

"A lot. But you get used to it. Loneliness. Even Ru chan will go for school in few days..."

"Um...so...where did you get these paintings from they're really beautiful!" Mr Hyuuga tried to lighten the atmosphere.

"Ru chan! I've decided I'm going to home school you! You aren't going back to the Academy. Besides it's a dangerous place!" She exclaimed.

"WHAT! NO Mother! " Ruka was mad at her. He stood up and ran away, "I don't want to be locked here forever! I hate you! I hate this stupid place!" Without another word he ran away outside the house.

"Ru-chan!"

"Ruka pyon!"

"Ruka!"

"Master!"

The two guards rushed after him, but Ruka was long gone by then. "He hates me!" His mother kept repeating that. "He didn't mean that! You know how teens are! They just say things in impulse! "Mr Hyuuga tried to comfort the weeping host.

"Natsume where are you going?" Mikan asked him.

"Isn't it obvious?" He replied.

"I'm coming too!" Aoi and Mikan said.

"No stay here." And he vanished out of the house too. Aoi and Mikan were worried about Ruka.

"I knew you'd be here." Natsume came and sat beside Ruka and patted him on the head. He was sitting on the roof of their old elementary school. The two of them often sat there, when they were kids.

"You know we first met here!" Ruka exclaimed.

"Yeah." Natsume reflected back on those days. Ruka was his first friend ever. They always were together. Did everything together. They even fell in love with the same girl!

"You shouldn't have run away like that it doesn't suit your personality." Natsume commented.

" Yeah that's your personality!" Ruka laughed along with his best friend. "I don't want to leave you guys. Mother's too possessive. She won't let me grow up! "

"She's possessive because she loves you. We all are possessive for something we love. You shouldn't have said that thing to her though. She's really upset about that." Natsume told him.

"What thing?"

"Don't pretend ignorance you know what I'm talking about!" Natsume said referring to the fact that Ruka had told his mother 'I hate you'

"I...I...didn't mean it! I want her to realize that I need some space to grow. That's all."

"You can talk it out with her, you know!" Natsume advised.

"I guess yeah. Since when did you become so sensitive about such issues?"

"Staying with Mikan alters your personality a little!" Natsume told him. They both laughed.

'_Should I tell him that?...__No...he'd be really mad if I tell him about that..._' Ruka was lost in his musings, '_but I should...no it's mine and Sakura's secret! Just like that Christmas kiss. Besides even Natsume hid their kisses from me...yeah he could have told me about their Christmas kisses and vow...but he didn't it was Koko who revealed the secret...I WON'T tell him about our kiss...never'_

"Let's go back and finish the lunch. Come on everyone's is worried sick about your little mental outburst." Natsume got up and gave his hand to Ruka.

"Yeah. And I need to do some apologizing as well."

The two best friends walked back to the mansion with their own respective secrets and thoughts. Aoi was overjoyed to see Ruka back and hugged him tight. Ruka settled things with his mother and she realized that she was restraining him too much and decided to give him some freedom.

* * *

**A/N: Done!**

**Please leave reviews!^^**

**Thanks!**


	21. Mikan's Birthday?

**A/N: Okay so almost every informed fan of GA, is probably wondering 'when is Mikan's actual birthday?' Don't worry so am I! So I made this story:**

**Chapter 17: Mikan's Birthday?**

Aoi and Mikan were sitting in the living room in the Hyuuga family house and giggling away. Mr Hyuuga was busy in his cabin finishing some touch ups on the paintings he was supposed to deliver that evening. And Natsume, well Natsume was just lazing around on his bed reading some manga and would have almost half asleep if it wasn't for the two giggling and squeaking girls.

"This photo was taken when it was my first day to preschool!" Aoi told her older sister. They both laughed again at Natsume's frown in the picture as Aoi was clinging to him and not wanting to go. "He he he Natsume's so cute when he was young..."

"Oh! You wanna see cuter photos of your boyfriend?" Aoi asked.

"Oh! Yes humor me!" Mikan was enjoying that afternoon very much! "Now I know why Hotaru likes to blackmail a lot with photos..." Aoi skimmed through the albums until she finally found what she was looking for.

"Here , look at this one, " Aoi said while handing out the photo to Mikan, "it's from Onisan's third birthday! Wasn't he just too cute! " Mikan was staring at the picture. A chibi Natsume was standing with a smile. Yes a smile! A rare thing to spot on his face. He was giving a huge smile as he held the cake knife and his mother was beside him holding a baby Aoi in her hands.

"Awww...Kawaii...you both look super cute! Especially Natsume! That's a rare picture you have a smiling Natsume there! Awww..." Mikan's reaction was as expected.

"How many times do I have to tell you two to keep it down! I'm trying to get some sleep! And don't use stupid words like 'cute' for guys! It's annoying." Natsume yelled from his room.

"Oh! Natsume, I think you still look _cute_!" Mikan said stressing on the word 'cute'. Natsume walked out of his room with a serious look on his face, "Want me to burn your hair?"

"Your threats don't bother me now! You keep forgetting you are no more an alice!" Mikan said clamly.

"Damn it! "Natsume swore.

"Speaking of birthdates when's your, oneechan?" Aoi asked.

"Oh! Well mine's on Jan 1." Mikan said.

"No it's not!" Natsume spoke, "this idiot here doesn't even know her birthday. You weren't _bor_n on Jan 1 . It was just told to you that it's your birthday by your Ji chan, you must be pestering him about it so he made up some random date and told it was your birthday. Or perhaps it was the day your mum handed you over to him."

"I think the second one's more appropriate. Yuka san must have given away Mikan to sakura san on Jan 1, that's why he told you it's your birthday." Mr Hyuuga said as he walked into the house. He was covered in paint all over.

"I wish I'd know my actual birthday!" Mikan sighed.

"I can help you with that!" Mr Hyuuga said, "you see...well I was there present when you were born. My wife and I helped Yuka san give birth you know. Actually I helped Kaoru san give birth to both Natsume and Ao-. "

"Get to the point!" Natsume interrupted.

"I always keep a diary of important events. I must have surely written down about your birth Mikan-chan so if we find the diary, we'll find the date."

"Okay then let's find it!" Mikan was anxious about finding the diary. Mr Hyuuga went to the cabin once more to find out the diary and Aoi went to help him look for it.

"Well looks like you're not the only idiot keeping diaries." Natsume told Mikan.

"Shut up!" Mikan said.

"it's here" Aoi said as she and her father walked in. She was enthusiastically waving the diary above her head. "Okay, give it here, Aoi chan. Let's see...year 1992...hmmm..."Mr Hyuuga kept flipping pages of his diary until he finally found the one he was looking for-

"Ah! There it is! I knew I'd written it! I thought it might be handy in future and as it turns out it is!" He said with pride.

"I'd never imagine I'd meet you again Mikan chan! And that you would be well my daughter in law! I thought that day when Yuka san walked away from us was the last I'd seen of you...but here you are! I guess it's all fate! Right, Natsume? I mean your mother even picked your name as' Natsume', so that you two and thus Kaoru san and Yuka san would have a connection. She said 'A life full of flowers and fruits, it sounds too farfetched,...But I want to keep this connection...whenever and wherever...if not of us...atleast our children...' Yeah that's what she told me! I think she kinda wanted you guys to get together you know that way even she and Yuka san would be related. I wonder what yuka san thought of Natsume?"

"Would you please just find that goddamn date!" Natsume was getting too irritated with his father's constant talking. Aoi and Mikan were both reduced to tears when they heard the reason behind Natsume's name.

"Awww...that's so cute!" Aoi said.

"Yeah. Too touching...I wish I had a chance to meet Kaoru san!" Mikan exclaimed.

"You're the first person I've met who's so eager to meet her mother in law!" Natsume mocked her.

"What's your problem Natsume?" Mikan got annoyed at him.

"Okay, now you two..." Mr Hyuuga opened the page again; for he'd absent mindedly closed the diary while he was talking about the whole name thing. "Okay let's see now-

**Today, was historic day, I helped a woman give birth! It was freaking weird! She was Kaoru san's kohai at the Academy. I think it was a good experience for me because well Kaoru san's pregnant as well so this experience might help in future. It was good that I had been reading lot of books on labor and stuff so I was able to help. Oh! BTW it was a baby girl. She was so tender and gentle, she looks just like her mother. Azumi san, her mother, has named her "Mikan" it was a name suggested by her sensei, Mikan's father. Cute name, right? Mikan! I hope she gets along well with my kid when they grow up...**

******* Hyuuga,**

**10****th**** May, 1992.**

"Mikan Izumi Yukihara, your birthday is 10th May! " Mr Hyuuga announced proudly as if it was a big scientific discovery.

"Great so you're a bull!" Natsume teased her.

"Why are you calling me names again?" Mikan bickered at him.

"What! I was saying that you're a Taurus! No need to get so embarrassed!" Natsume told her.

"You onisan you're the one who should be embarrassed." Aoi mocked him.

"Why?"

"Because you fell for an older woman!" Aoi pouted her tongue at him and gave Mikan a high five.

"WHAT ! By SIX DAMN MONTHS! Big deal!" Natsume protested.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Onisan's dating an older woman!" Aoi sang along and danced around him.

"Shut up!"

So another day passed by in the Hyuuga household!

**A/N: Okay I don't know what Natsume's father's first name is, no one does, so I put ***** I was planning to go with 'Ioran' which was a mistranslation, then I was like why confuse other fans out there. Anyways only Higuchi knows what Natsume's father's name is and when is Mikan's ** **actual birthday. 10****th**** may is something I randomly came up with! ^-^**

**Anyways please drop some reviews they make me as happy as howalon ( fluff puffs )make Mikan. **


	22. First Date

**A/N: It's about time that Natsume and Mikan go on their first official date, right? So here it is:**

**This is dedicated to ****AnimeloverNeko****, **

**Enjoy! ^^**

**Chapter 18:First date!**

"What really! Oniisan and Oneechan have NEVER gone a date before?" Aoi was shocked at the reply she got when she asked Mikan what it's like to go on a first date.

"Well, no. We did go to central town together a lot of times coz Natsume was my partner and all but well we weren't dating at that time, so I don't think that counts, right?" Mikan said casually.

"Of course it doesn't count!" Aoi said furiously, "Oniisan's really stupid. He should ask you out! TODAY!" Aoi stromed off to her to the only bedroom in fury, banging her feet against the floor to show her anger. Mikan trailed off behind her.

"Calm down, Aoi chan. It's no big deal!" Mikan said. _'Although I do want to badly go on a date with Natsume I even wrote it in my journal! I just don't know how I should ask him about it….'_ She spoke in her mind.

**I want to go on a date with Natsume. ( Weird right? We're practically engaged but haven't officially gone on a date!) **

Yup. That's what she had written in her journal.

"Oniisan. You're so heartless! How can you not take Oneechan on a date! ASK. HER. NOW !" Aoi screamed as she entered the bedroom and found her brother reading some more crappy manga.

"Aoi-chan!" Mikan said.

"Hey !Stay out of my love life! "Natsume coldly told her. "She's _my_ girlfriend, I'll take her out when I want to. Don't interfere."

"What did you say!" Aoi was really pissed off.

" You kids please keep it down!" Mr Hyuuga's faint voice was heard from his cabin.

"Otousan! Oniisan's being stubborn and rude! Don't yell at me! It's all his fault! Jerk!" Aoi said, "Oneechan I don't get what you see in him!" Aoi said to Mikan. Mikan just simply smiled weakly. "You know what let's go to Ru-chan's house. I bet he'll take us out for some treat today." Aoi grabbed Mikan's hand and led her out of the room. The two of them were about to walk out of the room, when Natsume spoke.

"Oi! Polka!" He told her, " We'll go at five in the evening. Don't expect me to bring flowers and stuff, okay? "

Mikan was overjoyed when she heard that! At last her lifelong dream of a fantasy date was coming true!

"Really! You mean it!" Mikan said with sparkling eyes. "Great! Then I'll get ready by five!"

"Thanks Aoi-chan! I was too nervous to ask him. But you helped me out! I really like you!" Mikan gave her a kiss on cheek.

"see! I knew it'd work!" And Aoi winked at her older sister.

"Oi! Since you're kissing people! "Natsume said while pointing to his lips, "How about my payment for the date?" Mikan tiptoed and gave him a quick kiss.

"Happy?" Mikan asked.

"As are you." He smirked.

**At four in the evening-**

"Ugh! I can't decide what to wear! Aoi chan! Please help!" Mikan complained as she laid down at least a dozen dresses, which she bought when she went shopping with Hotaru, on the floor.

"I think you should go with this one" Aoi said pointing out a beautiful dress with floral design on it and a purple lace tied at the waist area. "Oniisan likes purple, you know."

"Yeah…um…Okay so I'll go with that then!" Mikan said picking up that dress and showing it off in the mirror. _'I didn't know his favorite colour is purple! come to think of it I don't know any of his favorite….Sheesh I'm a failure as a girlfriend! I don't even know his favorite colour'_ Mikan thought. She tried to distract herself from such thoughts by thinking on what shoes to wear.

"Another problem, Aoi chan! What should I wear on my feet!" Mikan stressed out more. It was her first date and she wanted to make it perfect. The perfect dress. The perfect shoes. At a perfect venue. With a perfect boyfriend.

"I think you should go with these." Aoi said pointing out to a pair of lovely pink heels.

"You think so? I think they don't match too well with the dress." Mikan opined, "How about the white ones, they are bit too high heeled but they just go perfectly with the dress. "

"Yeah! You're right Oneechan! Go with the white ones." Aoi agreed.

"Hey! Are you done? I need to come inside, you know." Natsume yelled from outside. The girls had shut the door tight closed so that he wouldn't get in and disturb their dressing rehearsal.

"NO!" Both of them yelled together.

"This is my house too, you know!" Natsume fired back, "I _really_ need to use the toilet."

"Oldest trick in the book," Aoi replied, " If you want to go that badly use the one in dad's cabin."

Natsume didn't reply back. When the girls heard his hasty footsteps die in the hallway, they were assured he's gone for good and that maybe he really did want to _go__._ "So oneechan what are you planning for your hair style?"

"I'm gonna let them down." Well she obviously would! He'd once told her that she looked prettier that way and that she should let her hair down only in front of him. "Okay so you go have a nice bath then we'll get you dressed."

'_Hey, ugly girl, are you going to wear your hair in five years time? A hairstyle like this won't be suitable in five years time. Put it down. It looks better that way'_ That's what he'd told her once. So she had decided to let her hair down whenever she missed him, while she was locked up in the labyrinth mansion. And that miraculous Christmas when she let her hair down, she got a chance to meet him!

'_God! Those two are treating this date as if it's a wedding or something!'_ Natsume thought as he sat in the living room waiting for his date to get ready.

Mikan took a nice hot bath and then put on that dress Aoi picked for her. "Let's get your hair done, okay?" Aoi said she Mikan sat on the stool in front of the mirror. Aoi brushed Mikan's lovely brown locks. Aoi took two strands of her hair from both sides and fixed them behind using a butterfly clip, she let the rest of the hair down as they were and brushed them again for neatness. "There it's done!" Mikan stared at her reflection and was bedazzled by her own beauty, she blushed.

Natsume attention was distracted from his manga he was reading as he heard footsteps coming towards him. He raised his head and Mikan caged his gaze. He blushed….a little…maybe. He forgot everything. The place. The time. And the fact that his father and sister were watching the two of them. He got berserk. He got up and without thinking or planning he simply kissed her in front of his family! Aoi went pink. So you can imagine how Mikan's state was. She pushed him away immediately, embarrassed as she was.

"You look ….very….. beautiful…." He said as he caressed her hair very gently making her blush harder. Mr hyuuga pretended a cough to wake the lovers from their dream world. They snapped out of it. Both blushed, Natsume was just a hint of pink while Mikan was all red.

"T-th-anks…" Mikan managed to say that much.

"Shall we go?" Natsume said while offering Mikan his arm. '_This is so not my style, what am I doing…'_ Natsume thought. Mikan nodded in agreement and the two walked out of the house. Aoi gave Mikan a wink conveying a good luck and Mikan in turn signed her a thank you.

"Hey! Remember I want you kids home by 9!" Mr Hyuuga yelled from the house.

'_Way to ruin the moment old man!'_ Natsume thought.

"Hai!" Mikan said on behalf of both of them.

"So where are we going?" Mikan asked eagerly.

"You'll see when we get there." Natsume replied.

"Purple." Mikan spoke again " Purple, huh?"

"What about _purple_?"

"I didn't know it's your favorite colour!"

"So! Big deal. "

"Come to think of it I don't know any of your favorites! How's that?" Mikan wondered. Natsume always kept his life in dark from her, he never revealed his desires, his likes, dislikes to her; at least not until he confessed to her that Christmas. But after that there was the battle and they didn't meet each other for a long time and then his…. And now here they were again, with Mikan having little knowledge about him. They never actually conversed on such topics as normal lovers do. It' s all always about the Academy, their parents and well the rest is Natsume's perverted teasing. They never talked about such stuff as favorites. But today Mikan was determined to find out. After all it was their first date!"

"Well I know all of yours! Your favorite colour's pink, food is Howalon, place is beach( though you haven't been there you love it) , you love sports (coz you win every race! ). And you to cook mocha ( for me!). Most of all your most favorite person is…ME !" Natsume smirked.

"H-ho-ow? You know everything about me!"A bewildered Mikan said, "I am such a failure as a girlfriend, I don't know any of that stuff for you!"

"Stop sounding so stupid! It's nothing like that! You're the perfect girlfriend!" Natsume put an arm around her to cheer her up. "You want to know my favorites? It's always you. You're all my favorites! I don't like anything else besides my precious Mikan! So you don't have to worry about you not knowing my favorites, because _you_ are all my favorites!"

"Natsume!" Mikan had tears coming to her eyes. "Thank you so much!" She hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek lovingly.

The two lovers walked arm in arm for quite a while teasing each other and laughing, giggling, ( well mostly Mikan was the one to laugh ). They had almost crossed the village and were at the outskirts. A sparkling surface could be seen from afar. Was it a mirage? As they approached closer they saw that it was a lake. The evening sun rays had illuminated the surface of the lake as if it were covered in a layer of diamonds. It was a panoramic view.

"Wow! This is so…..beautiful…" Mikan said.

"We're here." He said, "Ruka and I came here once a long time ago. I loved this place ever since. I always wanted to come back here once. We were trying to get rid of those stalking bodyguards so we ran and ran until we crossed the village and we somehow accidently discovered this lake. "

"It really is breathtaking! Thank you for showing me your special place Natsume!"

Natsume turned his gaze from the lake to his girlfriend, he took her chin and turned her gaze towards his as well. Crimson orbs melted into hazel ones. He loved her eyes. He loved everything about her, so pure, so serene , so gentle and yet full of life! He caressed her cheek as always and then his hand moved to do the same with her hair. She let him play with her hair, after all she had let it down especially for him! He leaned in as his hand roamed in the brown tress. She moved closer as well, their foreheads touched. Mikan giggled. Natsume caught the giggle with his lips. Pressed them firmly against hers, not intending to let go. He did though continue playing with her hair…..

It was several hours after which the two broke up…or so it seemed to them. Mikan smiled back to him when she faced him. He smiled back. "I love your smile! You should smile more often!"

"Nah! It's a special treat for you. I'll only smile for my girlfriend!"

"Ha ha ha….Natsume, I think you're getting some sense of humor…..I think I'm a good influence for you." She winked.

"Hn." He reminded her of his usual attitude.

"By the way. I'm hungry."

"I can't get you any Hawolan here!"

"That's okay."

And they spent the rest of the evening eating, arguing and cuddling.

**That night-**

**I want to go on a date with Natsume. ( Weird right? We're practically engaged but haven't officially gone on a date!) (checked)**

'_The best date ever ' _ Mikan thought in her mind and dozed off to sleep.

**A/N: Please do review...thanks! ^^**


	23. Just the two of us, in dark again?

**A/N: Hey! Remember the episode from the anime, "Just the two of us, in the dark." Okay now imagine that it happens again only now those two are officially lovers, what'll happen...? ;-P**

* * *

**Chapter 19: Just the two of us, in dark...Again? **

"Owww..." Mikan said rubbing her head really hard. She looked around but couldn't see anything. Nothing. Pitch Black.

"Natsume?" She asked.

"You're finally up!" A familiar voice she loved so much answered back.

"What happened? Where are we?"

* * *

**Me: flashback time again!**

**Flashback...**

_The Hyuugas __**( A/N: I included Mikan in Hyuugas ;-P )**__ along with Ruka were out for a hiking trip one day. Luckily for Ruka his two escorts, were not stalking him today thanks to the outburst he'd earlier. So he was in high spirits that day, leaving only Natsume as the grumpy one in the group. He had intended to spend the entire day with his Mikan, but his father ruined his plans by arranging a hiking trip on Mt Akina. They drove the entire day an reached the spot by afternoon, after having lunch they started the hike._

"_I need some water...My bottle's empty..." Aoi complained._

"_Aoi-chan, here take mine." Ruka offered his bottle to her. Aoi gladly accepted it .On opening it, she found it empty as well._

"_Mine's empty too!"_

"_Me too!"_

"_Don't look at me, I didn't bring any!" Natsume tersely. _

"_Looks like we're running low on the water supplies!" Mr Hyuuga exclaimed._

"_We could go back to the car and refill from the jug" Ruka suggested._

"_No, that would take too long." Mr Hyuuga opined._

"_But we can't go on without water!" Aoi was impatient._

"_I think I heard a little stream murmur a while ago, when we were at the creek. We could go and refill from there..." Mikan gave a smart suggestion which took everyone by surprise._

"_Good idea, Sakura!" Ruka said._

"_I'll go fetch some water...Aoi chan you rest here!" Mikan said as she placed her hand on Aoi's back to comfort her._

"_I'll come with you." Natsume said," Who knows in what kind of trouble you'll get yourself into!" _

_Natsume and Mikan walked up to the stream they'd passed earlier. It was crystal clear stream murmuring its way down the slopped landscape. It was a steep area. Mikan tried her best to keep steady as she walked closer to the stream and removed the backpack from her shoulders and took out the bottle from it. _

"_Be careful! Let me do it! " Natsume said as he stepped closer to her maintaining his own balance._

"_I'm fine. Don't worry." Mikan protested and lowered furthered down the slope, "I'll fetch water from there, it's cleaner."_

"_No! Wait!"_

_Mikan was already slowly moving down the steep slope, Natsume closing in on her to ensure her safety. Mikan takes the bottle and bend down to fill it up. She does the same thing with two other bottles she'd brought. Finally when she was done, she stood up. Natsume offered his hand to her in suppport._

"_There! See it's done!" Mikan said while holding his hand and getting up. She placed her left foot behind as she stood up."You were worrying unnecess-!" But she couldn't complete her sentence as her left foot slipped from the soft muddy soil beneath it. _

"_Ahhhh!" Mikan screamed as her whole body was dragged down the slope. And Natsume who was holding her hand was pulled along with her as well. They kept on sliding down the steep slope until they reached the bottom._

"_THAT'S WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT!" Natsume yelled at her._

"_Natsume! Look!" Mikan said as she pointed out to huge mass of soil flowing down the slope like a muddy river._

"_RUN!" he yelled as he took her hand and ran at his top speed. They ran as fast as they could, Natsume's hawk eyes caught sight of a small cave and he ran towards it so as to use it as a shelter. He ran towards it. But in hurry Mikan dropped one of the bottle she was carrying._

"_Wait! The bottle!" Natsume swapped Mikan off her feet and carried her in his arms to increase his speed. She was slowing him down._

"_Shut up! Idiot! Just keep running, else we'll be buried under that mud!" They finally reached the cave, he had to dive in to avoid getting buried. He got inside in nick of time, the whole entrance of cave was blocked by a huge boulder. There was no way out! He turned his face toward the girl he was carrying in his arms. But her eyes were closed. He shook her. _

"_Hey! Hey!Mikan!You okay?" He asked her. No response._

"_She passed out!"..._

**End of flashback...**

* * *

Natsume," That's what happened."

Their eyes had accustomed to the darkness by now, and they were able to see around normally, but it was still quite dark.

"But there has to be a way out!" Mikan said as she crawled towards the blocked entrance and tried to knock out the boulders blocking their way out! Mikan continued to push and move but nothing happened. Not even a pebble moved!

"It's no use! We'll just have to wait until, they come to find us!" Natsume said, "You think I wouldn't have tried this out. Sit down quietly!"

"Oww! We're stuck in here!" Mikan said finally giving up and sitting down.

" Hey! By the way that's a new pattern you got there! Floral print! It's better than Polka dots or Strawberries, you know" Mikan flushed red when she figured out that Natsume was commenting on her new underwear she had bought the other day.

"Natsume! You BIG PERVERT !" Mikan started hitting him, more like tickling him!

"What you shouldn't have given me the view while you were fruitlessly trying to move those rocks there!" Natsume said. "Hey I've a strange feeling of Déjà vu! Did you get it?" he asked her.

"Huh? What's Deja vu?"

"It's French of 'I have seen this before' . Somehow I feel that all this has kinda happened before..."

"Well of course it has! Remember that day the two of us got trapped in darkness just like this...during the Alice festival in the Haunted Mansion? " Mikan said trying to make Natsume recollect the incident.

"Oh! Yeah, right! That time!"

"You have a terrible memory Natsume!" Mikan said. "So what do we do, now. Just wait?"

"That shouldn't be too difficult for you!"

"Shut up!" Mikan said while rubbing her hands together to warm herself up. She embraced herself as she was feeling cold.

"I wish I had my alice! I could keep you warm and even get us out of here!" Natsume said in regret. He really did miss it. Badly.

Mikan got up, walked up to him. She bent down on her knees, took his arm and settled in his embrace such that his arm rested on her shoulders. She snuggled in his arm and clasped her legs against her chest securing a warm and cozy position for both of them. She then placed her hand around his neck and hugged him tightly. Not only the closeness but the funny feeling the two got inside of themselves created enough heat to warm them up! Earlier when the two were trapped in darkness like this,

"There see! It's warm." Mikan said lovingly as she planted a soft kiss on his cheeks, "you don't have to worry about that! I'll keep you warm. Always. You don't need your alice. "

"Mikan!" Natsume couldn't hold himself any longer. He kissed her full on her lips.

"Okay! Natsume I think it's hot enough..." She said as she pulled out of his kiss.

"Hmphf!"

"You know I never thought that you would be the one to miss your alice this much. I mean I thought you hated it." Mikan asked him.

"The question isn't whether I liked it or not. It's how useful it was. At times I thought it was a burden to bear. A curse. But I was able to protect everyone I love because of it. It was kinda handy at times. You know..."

"Aww...you look so cute when you this sentimental and all" Mikan said as she pulled his cheeks to tease him.

"Don't call a guy cute. How many times do I have to tell you that, huh?" Mikan giggled at Natsume's anger. "What! What now! Do you have to laugh at everything? "

"Well you like it, don't you? My smile. That's why I laugh! Always...for you." Mikan hugged him tighter as she smiled. She looked at his face to see his reaction.

"Aha! You blushed!" Mikan said almost bursting into laughter again, "You did blush! I saw it!"

"Hmphf!" He smirked and covered his face with his hand, " I did not! Don't go imagining stuff in that stupid head of yours!"

"Don't deny it! It's as clear as crystal! Natsume you need to be honest!" She continued to tease him.

"Honest, huh?" Natsume's tone got more serious "Tell me Mikan do you honestly love me?"

"Well of course I do!" Mikan said, " Natsume! I love you! I always have and I always will! I told you that a long time ago!"

"You do, huh? Then tell me, what are you hiding from me?"

"What? Hiding? I am not hiding anything! What makes you say that?"

"You think I'm stupid! The other day you wanted to tell me something, and not to mention you tried to do so again at Ruka's place...I know you, Mikan, you can't lie...not to me!" He paused to see her face but she looked away, he caught her face and forced her to look into his eyes.

"Tell me honestly Mikan, did something happen to you? I need to know, dammit! I'm so worried about you, you know" He was dead serious when he asked her the question. Tears hugged Mikan's eyes and were slipping down her face. Natsume was shocked at her reaction, he thought that he went too far and had hurt her feelings, "Hey! Hey!" He said rubbing off those tears with his thumbs,

"Look I'm sorry...I shouldn't have been so imposing...please don't cry...please stop crying...Mikan I'm sorry! It's okay if you don't want to tell! I can't watch you crying like this...please stop crying."

Mikan calmed down a little. He took his hands, which were resting on her cheeks in her hands and held them close to her heart.

"No, Natsume! I'm the one who should apologize." She kissed him lovingly on the lips and then faced him in the eyes:

"I kissed Ruka."

Natsume felt far worse than the time he was stabbed. He felt anger, betrayal and treachery. As if a thousand knives were driven right through his heart. A heart he had given to the girl in front of him who just told him that she had kissed his best friend.

Mikan waited for his reaction.

One minute had gone by.

Two.

Three.

.

.

.

.

.

Ten.

He broke the silence after ten agonizing long minutes, for Mikan they were like ten years.

" Did he force you to do it?" He said without emotions.

"No."

"Then you're telling me you kissed him at your own accord?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because he asked for it."

"So you're going to be kissing every single idiot who asks you to do so?"

"Natsume! Don't say that! You're talking as if I am a..."

"Then why Mikan? Why did you kiss Ruka?"

" Natsume! Because we owed him. He's always been there for you. For me. For both of us. He loved me. But he choose to given up because his best friend loved me as well. He choose to sacrifice of his first real love for his best friend. And one day he told me that he wanted me to be the girl from whom he receives his first kiss. That's all there is to it. Believe me. It was just a peck on lips, not even a long one. And you know what! I was thinking about you the whole time. I didn't want to kiss him, but I did it because I think Ruka needed it. And so...It was more of a good bye kiss for him, because somehow I felt he finally let go off his feeling for me after that." Mikan paused to see Natsume's reaction.

"...hn...Why didn't you tell me about it earlier?...huh? "

"Because I thought you might fight with Ruka or break up with me!"

Natsume took Mikan's face in his cupped hands and kissed her full on the mouth, "I will NEVER _EVER _breakup with you. Mikan, I love you...more than anyone else..."

"So does that mean you forgive me?" Mikan asked.

Natsume kissed her once again and this time the kiss lasted much longer, neither of them wanting to let go. "I guess that answers your question. Or do you need more proof?"

"I do need some more." Mikan said slyly. And the two began kissing once more...

**Meanwhile...**

"It's been almost half an hour since they had gone...I think we should look for them." Aoi suggested.

"Yeah." Ruka agreed.

The trio reached the stream and were shocked to see that none of the two was around there. And what shocked them the most was the huge landslide they saw in front of them.

"Oh! My god! I hope those two are alright!" Aoi was almost in tears.

"We need to find another way down and check on them. Knowing Natsume he must have found some safe place for themselves. It was a good thing he came with Sakura." Ruka said as he hugged Aio to calm her down. Ruka used his alice to call some birds and he instructed them to scan the perimeter for any signs of his friends.

After about ten minutes, a crow came with a bottle Mikan had taken to fill water, Ruka communicated with it and got the exact location of the bottle. The crow guided them to the place where it had found the bottle. Ruka whistled out and three bears from the bushes appeared before them. Aoi was almost startled by their sudden appearance.

"Don't worry they won't harm you." Ruka said as he patted them on the head, "See! Mount them, they'll take us safely down the slope. It'll be faster and easier way down."

Aoi was too scared to climg, so Ruka took her on his ride. Aoi hugged him tight as the two bears raced down the slope and reached the entrance of the cave which was blocked by the boulders. Ruka patted the bears and thanked them for thei help.

"Okay...this where the crow had found the bottle...those two should be here somewhere..." Ruka's gaze caught the huge boulder blocking the entrance of the cave,

"look! That's unusual...I think there's a cave behind it...if only we could move the boulder..." He sighed.

"Move aside, kids." Mr Hyuuga finally stepped in, " I've practicing and sharpening my alice lately . I think it'll come in use now." Mr Hyugga made a ball of fire, which grew bigger in size as he added power to it. "Ru-chan, take Aoi and step back."

"Otousan! Be careful!"

"Yeah Hyuuga san, Aoi's right...please take care..."

Ruka obeyed. He hugged Aoi tightly and shielded her in advance anticipating a huge explosion. And indeed an explosion followed. Smoked blinded the three of them and they waited for smoke to clear off.

As their vision returned to normalcy they moved closer to the cave and tried to see if they could find anyone in there. Mr Hyuuga made a small fire ball in his hands to lighten the cave up as they moved further in. They almost reached the cave's end where they saw two figure lying on ground. Fearing that they were knocked out from the landslide or worse the explosion they rushed in to help. And what they saw...well it shocked them to death...

There those two were at the very end of the cave, thus safely shielded from the explosion. Both of them on the ground, Natsume on top of Mikan kissing her so passionately that even Mr Hyuuga turned red as the evening sun. He quickly covered Aoi's eyes. She giggled out loud.

"Hey! You two break up now!" Ruka teased them. It was only when Ruka spoke that their attention shifted towards their 'rescuers' Mikan quickly got up and brushed off the dust from her skirt and hair. Natsume cursed under his breath for his most romantic moment was ruined, yet again.

"We thought you guys were in trouble...but looks like you two were enjoying yourselves and taking advantage of being alone in the dark, eh?" Aoi spoke.

"It's not what you think Aoi chan! We're were just kissing...that's all..." Mikan found herself repeating the same line which she spoke to Ruka and Hotaru the last time when she and Nastume were stuck in dark ( with some new modifications in the last part).

"Stop jumping on me...just because no one was here...pervert woman!" Natsume spoke his same lines from the last time and sort of smiled as he spoke it.

"Natsume! You're the big PERVERT here!" Mikan said angrily.

"I was just kidding!" He said and smiled at her.

"yeah...yeah...yeah...silly!" She teased him. And everyone laughed to their hearts content as how funny this whole rescue mission turned out to be!

* * *

**A/N: Okay this is the last chap in the current holiday arc. **

**Firstly apologies to all my readers this story will be going on a hiatus for the time being.I'll be continuing it in my falls break which is in October. My college starts from tomorrow, so no time! **

**Next arc is about Middle school days in the academy...( an overview of the upcoming chapters is in my profile, if you're interested check it out! ) **

**Hope you guys stick around with the story till then.**

**Big huge thanks to all those who read, reviewed, favorite and followed my story. **

**Thank you****,**

**Sonic Keyblade-007, Kira chan, sunshine and smiles, distan33, Kaida li, .ONES, xxPaffyxx,Miki panda chii, Yukari Mia, My Twinkling Star...**

**and of course my BFF Rock Lee96, who even opened an account here on FFN ( and risked it at times, he knows what I mean ;-P) just to read and review my story. Thank you soooooooooooo much! ^^**

**You guys made this summer the most memorable one I've ever had.**

**Hope to see you all again in October...and hope we get the news of Natsume being alive by then! ^^**

**Until there...**

**Sayonara~**

**Ja ne~**


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